507 lines
30 KiB
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507 lines
30 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: ARTICLE REGARDING UFOs & THE CIA FILE: UFO1781
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DATE OF UPLOAD: December 21, 1989
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ORIGIN OF UPLOAD: Crawdaddy Magazine/December, 1977
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CONTRIBUTED BY: Kay Schaney/ParaNet Subscriber
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========================================================
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(C) Copyright 1989 ParaNet Information Service
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All Rights Reserved unless copyrighted by Author.
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THIS FILE WAS PREPARED BY PARANET ALPHA -- PARANET INFORMATION
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SERVICE
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PARANET INFORMATION SERVICE BBS
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PARANET ALPHA
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DENVER, COLORADO
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NOTE: THESE FILES ARE NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE
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OF THE PARANET INFORMATION SERVICE NETWORK
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========================================================
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ParaNet Information Service (Denver, CO)--Certainly 1989
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will be remembered as the year of discovery.
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Whether or not we have moved any closer to the understanding
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of the UFO phenomena, we can surely say that we have had our
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share of 'deep throats' and secret sources seeming to come out of
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the woodwork with tales of secret saucers being kept and flown at
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Area 51 in the Nevada desert.
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Regardless of the truth of these stories, there remains one
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thing that should take precedence in our minds -- If true, this
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is one of the most important events in our history. However, if
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false, this is one of the most important displays of
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disinformation ever perpetrated on the UFOlogical community and
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the American public dealing with UFOs.
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Disinformation has claimed many victims over the years and
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has touched the lives of everyone who has looked at the very tip
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of the UFO iceberg. It is as mysterious as the UFO phenomenon
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itself and seems to be in every corner of the field.
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It is probably the root of paranoia which has spread
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throughout the UFO field at exponential proportions.
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Disinformation works at the psychological level and invokes
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one of the most basic human responses -- fear. This has been a
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proven technique to keep those away from attempting to gain an
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understanding of UFOs.
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Where did it star? It is clear. The CIA has been at the
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heart of it since the early 1950s. We also know that the CIA has
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been in total control of the UFO mystery from the very first day.
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The first clear indications that the CIA was in control comes
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from the Robertson Panel which was held from January 14 through
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January 17, 1953, and was a historic summit of scientific people
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which discussed what to do about the problem of UFOs and the
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public seeing them. This panel was under the control and
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direction of the CIA.
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Below is a reprint of an article which appeared in the
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December 1977 issue of Crawdaddy Magazine. It is very
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stimulating reading.
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ParaNet will deal in depth with the aspect of disinformation
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in the near future.
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=================================================================
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THE CIA SAUCER WATCH
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Could only Arthur Godfrey and Walt Disney save America from the
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fear and pandemonium of the uncertain truth about UFOs? From
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newly-released documents, here's the unsettling story of an early
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CIA foray into national mind-games.
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By Jim Hougan
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The message coming out of the CIA in recent months is that
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it's very much a "vanguard" operation. We know now that for more
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than a decade before Ken Kesey's "Acid Tests," the Agency was
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buying LSD by the gallon and testing it on unwitting
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"volunteers," while at the same time contemplating Extra-Sensory
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Perception (ESP) as an ideal means of secret communication
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(covering its bases by having magicians reveal the secrets of
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their trade, especially with regard to "mind-reading acts").
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Hypnosis was another plaything of the Agency, as was behavioral
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modification and a host of other non-scheduled disciplines.
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Assuming that this vanguardism was not an aberration, but
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typical of the Agency's foresight and supposed open-mindedness,
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we may wonder upon what scientific and mystical frontiers they're
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currently standing. Biofeedback? TM? Pyramid power? Silva Mind
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Control? Has the Agency funded the study of more paranormal
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phenomena -- Kirlian photography, psychokinesis, dousing? Does
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the CIA have a Tac Squad of black-magicians, alchemists bent on
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manipulating the value of Russian gold reserves? Does it have
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its own psychics and astrologers and, if so, what are their GS
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ratings?
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I bring up all these things in light of a formerly secret
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CIA report that has been quietly declassified: Report of
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Meetings of (the) Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified
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Flying Objects, Convened by (the ) Office of Scientific
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Intelligence, CIA, January 14-18, 1953. A notorious document
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within the community of UFO buffs, its existence has long been
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known: indeed, a censored version has been published in at least
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one book devoted to UFOlogy. What has not been generally
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available, however, is the fact that the Report was prepared
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under the auspices of the CIA. Indeed, it's precisely that fact
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that has been the censors' target.
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The significance if the CIA's involvement in the UFO
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controversy is substantial. And, if we can put aside our
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prejudices concerning the subject of "flying saucers" --
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prejudices which, as we'll see, have been shaped by the Agency's
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mass psychologists -- we'll find that the Report documents a
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proposed course of action that constitutes a dangerous breach of
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the CIA's Charter forbidding domestic operations. The questions
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raised by the Report are fundamental ones concerning the
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subservience of scientific objectivity to "national security"
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goals, the manipulation of national myths, and the use of
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psychological warfare tactics in peacetime against the very
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public whose tax dollars support the Agency's operations. And
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the questions are specific as well. For instance: did the CIA
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place American UFO groups under surveillance, as the Report
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panelists recommended? Were Arthur Godfrey and Walt Disney (and
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other celebrities) used in a domestic psywar campaign to "debunk"
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UFOs -- as some panelists recommended? Does the CIA routinely,
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or only occasionally, manipulate American "myths" -- as the
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Report makes clear that it does? Are the conclusions of
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scientific advisory panels to the CIA and other government
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agencies arrived at via the scientific method or, as the Report
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suggests, by political prescription? The "CIA-UFO conspiracy" is
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an ideal case in point.
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***
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To understand the significance of the Report, it should be
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noted it was produced at the very zenith of the Cold War. Rapid
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scientific advances in such fields as nuclear energy and jet
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propulsion had ignited the imagination of the public, while
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hostility toward China and Russia added an element of paranoia to
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the country's mood. At the same time, "flying saucers" were a
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relatively new phenomenon in the sense that, while strange lights
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had been seen in the skies for centuries, it was not until the
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late '40s that they became a subject of national speculation, a
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cause celebre. Initial investigations of these early reports of
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bizarre aerial phenomena suggested that most -- 75% or so --
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could be attributed to natural causes poorly observed, optical
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illusions, hoaxes, equipment malfunctions or other such banal
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origins. But that left a significant number of sightings, films
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and artifacts which could not be rationally explained and which,
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therefore, literally constituted "Unidentified Flying Objects."
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The nature of those objects could be almost anything, but many
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suspected them to be intelligently-guided aircraft -- Russian,
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American, or Martian. (This was no exaggeration. According to
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an article by Pentagon staffer Maj. David R. Carlson in The
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Aerospace Historian [Winter, 1974], a Top Secret 1948 "Estimate
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of the Situation," prepared by the USAF Air Technical
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Intelligence Center, concluded that UFOs were "interplanetary" in
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origin.) Amid this mix of scientific progress, political
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paranoia, and seemingly impossible occurrences in the air, the
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1953 CIA Panel was convened.
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The Panel, composed of seven highly prestigious scientists,
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(Dr. H. P. Robertson, Chairman, California Institute of
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Technology; Dr. Luis W. Alvarez, University of California; Dr.
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Lloyd Berkner, Associated Universities, Inc.; Dr. Samuel
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Goudsmith, Brookhaven National Laboratories; Dr. Thornton Page,
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Office of Research Operation, Johns Hopkins University; Dr. J.
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Allen Hynek, Ohio State University; and Mr. Frederick C. Durant,
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Arthur D. Little, Inc.), was attended by the upper echelon of the
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Agency's Office of Scientific Intelligence, and apparently
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reported directly to Allen Dulles, Director of Central
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Intelligence (DCI). (That the Panel reported to the DCI is a
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fact, though it's not known for certain who was DCI at the time
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of the Report's completion. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith retired as
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DCI on Feb. 9, 1953; Dulles served as Acting Director from then
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until Feb. 26, when his appointment as DCI was confirmed.)
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The CIA made it clear from the start, however, that its
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interest in UFOs was operational rather than academic. While
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several days were spent studying films of UFOs, reports by the
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Air Force and Battelle Institute, and listening to numerous
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interviewees, the Agency had little interest in the subject per
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se. For one thing, there was no evidence that the "saucers"
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represented a security threat: they hadn't bombed anything and,
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in the absence of hardware indicating otherwise, they didn't seem
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to be Russian. That they might be extraterrestrial in origin was
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a possibility that might be raised, but only in order to dismiss
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it. Nevertheless, there were dissenters among the Panelists, and
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among the witnesses. According to the report:
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It was interesting to note that none of the members of
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the Panel were loath to accept that this earth might be
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visited by extraterrestrial intelligent beings of some
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sort, some day. What they did not find was any evidence
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that related the objects sighted to space travellers.
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Mr. Fournet, in his presentation, showed how he had
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eliminated each of the known and probable causes of
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sightings leaving him with 'extraterrestrial' as the
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only one remaining in many cases. Fournet's background
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as an aeronautical engineer and technical intelligence
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officer (Project Officer, Bluebook for 15 months) could
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not be slighted. However, the Panel could not accept
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any of the cases sighted by him because they were raw,
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unevaluated reports. Terrestrial explanations of the
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sightings were suggested in some cases and in others the
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time of the sighting was so short as to cause suspicion
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of visual impressions.
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Elsewhere, the Report discusses spectacular films of UFOs
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sighted over Trementon, Utah, and the resultant briefing by
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representatives of the U.S. Navy's Photo Interpretation
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Laboratory (P.I.L.).
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This team had expended (at Air Force request)
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approximately 1,000 man-hours of professional and sub-
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professional time in the preparation of graph plots of
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individual frames of the film, showing apparent and
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relative motion of objects and variations in their light
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intensity. It was the opinion of P.I.L. representatives
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that the objects sighted were not birds, balloons or
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aircraft; were not reflections because there was no
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blinking while passing through 60 degrees of arc and
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were, therefore, 'self-luminous.' Plots of motion and
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variation in light intensity of the objects were
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displayed. While Panel Members were impressed by the
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evident enthusiasm, industry, and effort of the P.I.L.
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team, they could not accept the conclusions reached..."
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Despite the "enthusiasm" of the P.I.L. team (reading between the
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lines, I come up with "They're flying saucers, goddammit, look at
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them!"), and in the absence of any evidence to back up what
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amounted to their dogmatic skepticism, the panel concluded that
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if further extensive tests were conducted (which they would not
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be),"...the results of such tests would probably lead to
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creditable explanations of value in an educational or training
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program." In other words, "If we broke our necks trying, we
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might be able to convince people that these things, whatever they
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are, are something other than what they would seem to be." The
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conclusions reached by the P.I.L. team, after exhaustive efforts,
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were unacceptable simply because they didn't conform to the
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(untested) hypotheses of the CIA panelists. The panelists
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therefore decided that the objects filmed over Utah must be
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seagulls or "pillow-balloons" or airplanes or camera tricks or
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something.
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It was this attitude, reflecting CIA policy on the matter,
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that led the Air Force Bluebook project (analyzing UFO reports)
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to be dubbed "The Society for the Explanation of the
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Uninvestigated."
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My purpose here, however, and I hasten to point it out, is
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not to convince anyone that UFOs are anything other than what the
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acronym implies -- "unidentified." My intention is, instead, to
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emphasize the absence of scientific certainty prevailing at the
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time, the lack of objectivity exhibited at most of the meetings,
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and the palpable intention of the panelists to dismiss, virtually
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out of hand, any evidence that challenged existing orthodoxy.
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In any case, since the CIA and the majority of panelists had
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discounted the UFOs as phenomenal figments, it might be thought
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that this would have ended the matter. But that isn't how things
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work at CIA headquarters.
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The panel concluded that while UFOs didn't constitute"...a
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direct physical threat to national security...the continued
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emphasis on the reporting of these phenomena does, in these
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parlous times, result in a threat to the orderly functioning of
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the protective organs of the body politic."
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Specifically,"...panel members were in agreement with O/SI
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[Office of Scientific Intelligence, CIA]...that dangers might
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well exist resulting from:
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a. Misidentification of actual enemy artifacts by defense
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personnel.
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b. Overloading of emergency reporting channels with 'false'
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information...
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c. Subjectivity of public to mass hysteria and greater
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vulnerability to possible enemy psychological warfare."
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The Report then goes on to point out that the first two of these
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"dangers" are "not the concern of CIA," but rather that of the
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Air Defense Command (ADC). What the CIA is concerned about,
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however, is the third "danger." As the Report makes clear, the
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Agency feared that the "myth of UFOs" might lead to an
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"inappropriate" response by the public in case of nuclear attack
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or an invasion of the U.S. by air. (Just what the Agency had in
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mind in this regard is uncertain: one supposes they feared
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Russia's surrounding its MIGs with phosphorescent papier mache,
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thereby posing as flying saucers, and landing in suburbia with
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demands that they be taken to our leader.) That they worried
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about Russia's manipulation of the saucer myth, however, is
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explicit in the Report. "The Panel noted that the general
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absence of Russian propaganda based on a subject with so many
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obvious possibilities for exploitation might indicate a possible
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Russian official policy." Note the reasoning: it seems to say
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that because Russia demonstrated no interest in the saucer myth,
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it must therefore be fascinated by it. Obviously the commies
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were covering up.
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In the face, or apparition, of Marxist manipulation of the
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UFO controversy, the Panel decided that "a broad education
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program must be undertaken" and "that it should have two major
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aims: training and 'debunking'."
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"The training aim," continues the Report, "would result in
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proper recognition of unusually illuminated objects (e.g.,
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balloons, aircraft reflections) as well as natural phenomena
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(meteors, fireballs, mirages, noctilucent clouds)...This training
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should result in a marked reduction in reports caused by
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misidentification and resultant confusion."
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"The 'debunking' aim," the Report went on, "would result in
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reduction in public interest in 'flying saucers' which today
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evokes a strong psychological response. This education could be
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accomplished by mass media such as television, motion pictures,
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and popular articles. Basis of such education would be actual
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case histories which had been puzzling at first but later
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explained...Such a program should tend to reduce the current
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gullibility of the public and consequently their susceptibility
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to clever hostile propaganda."
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Moreover:
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Members of the Panel had various suggestions related to
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the planning of such an educational program. It was
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felt strongly that psychologists familiar with mass
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psychology should advise on the nature and extent of the
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program. In this connection, Dr. Hadley Cantril
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(Princeton University) was suggested. Cantril authored
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'Invasion from Mars' (a study in the psychology of
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panic, written about the famous Orson Welles broadcasts
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in 1938), and has since performed advanced laboratory
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studies in the field of perception...Also, perhaps an
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advertising expert would be helpful. Arthur Godfrey was
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mentioned as possibly a valuable channel of
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communication reaching a mass audience of certain
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levels...The Jam Handy Co. which made World War II
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training films (motion picture and slide strips) was
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also suggested, as well as Walt Disney, Inc. animated
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cartoons. Dr. Hynek suggested that amateur astronomers
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in the U.S. might be a potential source of enthusiastic
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talent 'to spread the gospel.' It was believed that
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business clubs, high schools, colleges, and television
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stations would all be pleased to cooperate in the
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showing of documentary type motion pictures if prepared
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in an interesting manner.
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You can see the scenario: CIA officers and flag-crazed
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astronomers huddle in secret to fathom the insidious meaning of
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Russian disinterest in flying saucers. In front of them are
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movie screens over which play the images of UFOs hovering in Utah
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-- and, for the purposes of comparison, films of seagulls
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flapping through the air. In another room, Allen Dulles sits
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meditating on Korea's place in the cosmos, waiting to hear if
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UFOs are imaginary or real (and, if real, to learn the ideology
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of their occupants). It's ludicrous.
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And yet, even setting aside the rape of scientific
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objectivity in the supposed best interests of national security,
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there's something dangerous here as well.
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That is, the manipulation of domestic "myths" by secret
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agencies of the federal government, agencies which consider the
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use of celebrities and mass-psychologists in a peacetime campaign
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for "right-thinking," is the first step toward psychiatric
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facism. (It was precisely this kind of activity that led to the
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persecution of the Jews under the Axis, the evolution of occult
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pseudo-sciences in Nazi Germany, and the propagation of official
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myths about Aryan supremacy; they were politically useful ideas.)
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It's absurd, of course, to make a categorical comparison
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between the CIA's planned "debunking" of flying saucers with the
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myth-manipulations of the Nazis. Even if the CIA plans were put
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into effect, their target was a seemingly innocuous one, and the
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ridiculing of "flying saucer nuts" relatively mild and harmless.
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Still, it is a dangerous policy and, as other reports indicate,
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it wouldn't be the first time the CIA indulged in such
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manipulations (more of which later). The question is: were the
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recommendations of the CIA panelists put into effect? In the
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absence of a credible statement from the CIA, we can only judge
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by what happened. Prior to the panel's being convened, judging
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by the open-mindedness of its expert witnesses, the subject was
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given serious study. Subsequently, however, the Air Force
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embarked on a campaign that precisely conformed to the
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recommendations of the CIA group. UFO-buffs have long argued
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that the Air Force was carrying out a policy of cover-up, but few
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guessed that the policy originated with the CIA.
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***
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The history of the Bluebook project from 1953 to its
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termination in 1969 is one of self-defeat and the waste of tax
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revenues. As Hynek points out in his book, The UFO Experience,
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not even the most basic steps were taken. "By and large," he
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writes, "Bluebook data were poor in content, and even worse, they
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were maintained in virtually unusable form. With access to
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modern electronic data processing techniques, Bluebook maintained
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its data entirely unprocessed. Cases were filed by date alone,
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and not even a rudimentary cross-indexing was attempted. Had the
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data been put in a machine readable form, the computer could
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have been used to seek patterns in the reports, to compare the
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elements of one report with those of another...Since all the
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thousands of cases were recorded only chronologically, even so
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simple a matter as tabulating sightings from different
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geographical locations, from different types of witnesses, etc.
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was impossible...A proposal for elementary computerization of the
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data...was summarily turned down." In addition, Bluebook tended
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not to "investigate" sightings until they achieved notoriety in
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the press; its staff was invariably too small, and its status
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inevitably low.
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The Air Force, in other words, carried out an essential
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aspect of the CIA's proposed dirty work: the pseudo-scientific
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"debunking" of the UFOs. That the debunking was unsuccessful is
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obvious from two polls taken by the Gallup organization. In
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1947, 90% of the U.S. public had heard about UFOs; in 1966, 96%
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had heard of them. What's more, a 1966 Gallup poll indicated
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that more than five million Americans had witnessed a UFO; in
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1973, another Gallup poll showed that 15 million had seen one or
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more UFOs. Whatever it is they think they've seen, it is as
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Hynek says: "Through the years there [has] been a stubborn,
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unyielding residue of 'incredible reports from credible people.'"
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If we could be certain that this was the only instance in
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which the CIA set out to manipulate national myths, it could be
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dismissed as an aberration, a temporary crankishness on the part
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of the Agency. But there's no way to be certain of that. The
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CIA's early involvement in the practice, and its apparent success
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in bringing about the ridicule of witnesses and buffs, raises the
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possibility that other American "myths" have been similarly
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manipulated (perhaps with more success). To what extent, if any,
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have CIA scientists intervened in ESP researches, and toward what
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end? To what extent, if any, have "assassination buffs" been
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lampooned by campaigns hatched in the Directory of De-
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mythification?
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***
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It's not just that the Agency violated its Charter against
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domestic operations at an early age. The 1953 meetings also
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raised the specter -- concretely -- of placing people under
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surveillance on the grounds that they held scientific or cultural
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views that differed from the Agency's own. Quoting from the 1953
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Report:
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The Panel took cognizance of the existence of such
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groups as the 'Civilian Flying Saucer Investigators'
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(Los Angeles) and the 'Aerial Phenomena Research
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Organization' (Wisconsin). It was believed that such
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organizations should be watched because of their great
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influence on mass thinking if widespread sightings
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should occur. the apparent responsibility and the
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possible use of such groups for subversive purposes
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|
should be kept in mind.
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While some justification can be made for "watching" political
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groups and individuals deemed dangerous to society, there can be
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|
no innocent grounds for monitoring persons who hold minority
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views on astronomical phenomena.
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|
Although there's no way, short of subpoena, to determine if
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the CIA has exploited other "myths" at home, it is well-known
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|
that they've done so abroad. In the Philippines, for instance,
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an indigenous vampire myth flourishes. To capitalize on that
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|
myth, CIA counter-insurgency experts instructed Filipino troops
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under their command to fake vampirism following battle encounters
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with the Huks. When time permitted, the enemy dead were strung
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upside-down from the limbs of trees, and their jugulars pierced
|
|
with small incisions. Found days later by their comrades, their
|
|
bodies drained of blood and with what seemed to be "teeth-marks"
|
|
on their necks, the dead were presumed to have fallen victim of
|
|
immortal enemies (i.e., the "living dead"). This same tactic
|
|
was, reportedly, tried in Vietnam, but it met with no success
|
|
since the Vietnamese wouldn't know a vampire from a Fig Newton.
|
|
They merely thought Americans peculiarly savage for killing
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people in such a barbaric way.
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|
What the Vietnamese did have, however, was a belief in hexes
|
|
associated with "the evil eye." To exploit that myth, some
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|
Special Forces troops were instructed to remove the eyes of dead
|
|
enemy soldiers -- to gouge them out, as it were -- and place them
|
|
on the backs of the enemy dead. This anomaly, when encountered
|
|
by the Viet Cong or NVA, was expected to freak them out and,
|
|
reportedly, it did. Even more bizarre, though, was the
|
|
Americans' way of "making do." Soldiers disgusted at the
|
|
prospect of disfiguring the dead, or simply pressed for time,
|
|
resorted to tossing copies of the CBS "eye" logo on the backs of
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|
dead NVA and Viet Cong. While not quite so effective as the real
|
|
thing, the practice was said to have had some impact.
|
|
This isn't to say that the CIA gives an automatic go-ahead
|
|
to every proposal for the exploitation of myth. Some proposals
|
|
are so outlandish that even the Agency is flabbergasted by them.
|
|
For instance, a witness before Sen. Frank Church's Select
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|
Committee on Intelligence described a plan concocted by General
|
|
Edward Lansdale for the overthrow of Fidel Castro. "I'll give
|
|
you one example of Lansdale's perspicacity," the witness said.
|
|
"He had a wonderful plan for getting rid of Castro. The plan
|
|
consisted of spreading the word that the Second Coming of Christ
|
|
was imminent and that Christ was against Castro, (who) was the
|
|
Anti-Christ. And you would spread this word around Cuba, and
|
|
then on whatever date it was, that there would be a manifestation
|
|
of this thing. And at that time -- this is absolutely true --
|
|
and at that time just over the horizon there would be an American
|
|
submarine which would surface off of Cuba and send up some
|
|
starshells (flares). And this would be the manifestation of the
|
|
Second Coming and Castro would be overthrown...Well, some wag
|
|
called this operation -- and somebody dubbed this -- Elimination
|
|
by Illumination."
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|
***
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|
It's entirely possible, of course, that we'll never know
|
|
what the CIA's been up to all these years, at home or abroad.
|
|
Indeed, even an understanding of exactly what happened with the
|
|
UFO experience becomes increasingly unlikely. Currently, what
|
|
UFOlogists regard as the coup de grace "of the longest cover-up"
|
|
is taking place at Maxwell Air Force Base. It's there that
|
|
nearly 30 years of UFO sightings and research have been kept.
|
|
Throughout most of that time, interested researchers were given
|
|
virtually free access to the available records. Now, however,
|
|
those records are being given by the Air Force to the National
|
|
Archives with the stipulation that the identities of witnesses
|
|
and officials mentioned in the reports be deleted. Excising all
|
|
proper names from the tens of thousands of pages accumulated over
|
|
three decades is a monumental, time-consuming and expensive task
|
|
that would seem to have no purpose but to diminish the historical
|
|
and scientific value of the records. As John Taylor, an official
|
|
at the National Archives, pointed out: "It's just a waste of
|
|
money. For years, anyone who wanted to look at those records,
|
|
with all the names left in, just had to visit Maxwell Air Base.
|
|
Now, all of a sudden, they want the names removed. It doesn't
|
|
make sense: it's too late to protect anyone's privacy. All
|
|
they're going to do is damage the historical record, and spend a
|
|
small fortune doing it."
|
|
A spokeswoman for Dr. Hynek's Center for UFO Studies also
|
|
deplored the removal of the names, but for somewhat different
|
|
reasons. "The reports of sightings will still be valuable...What
|
|
disturbs us so much more is the Air Force's deleting the names of
|
|
officials who were involved in the various projects, scientists
|
|
who rendered opinions on sightings, and others who attended
|
|
military and governmental meetings on the subject. Suddenly, all
|
|
that's going to be a blank. There'll be no way to know who was
|
|
responsible for what. It's the last stage of the cover-up. It
|
|
completes it."
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=================================================================
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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********************************************** |