The Birth of The
CIA -
And Flying Saucers
By Frank Warren
frank-warren@pacbell.net
6-13-1
There's been a lot of speculation on the irony of the "birth
of the CIA" in September, of 1947, ( formerly, The Central
Intelligence Group) coinciding with all the "flying saucer
activity" beginning in June of that year, starting with
Kenneth Arnold's sighting over Mt Rainier to the "crashed
discs" in the area of Roswell New Mexico. Some have claimed,
that the sole purpose in creating the CIA was to investigate
the "flying saucer" phenomenon. That, of course
is not the case. [CIG and then CIA were born primarily out
of the realization of the importance of a "post war"
intelligence gathering agency, similar to it's "war time"
predecessor, the OSS, and President Truman's frustration with
being out of the "intelligence loop," as "Vice
President," in addition to the difficulty it had been
for him to obtain information from the various government
departments, each of which seemed "walled off" from
the others.]
[At that time, by many accounts, he had been surprised to
discover how much information relating to intelligence and
national security matters had been withheld from him. The
most dramatic evidence of how ill-informed he was came on
his 12th day in office when Secretary of War Henry Stimson
briefed him for the first time on the Manhattan (atomic bomb)
Project, about which Truman had heard only hints while serving
as Vice President and on key Senate committees.] David McCullough,
Truman (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1992), pp. 376-378.
[It is interesting to note however, that both CIG and the
OSS did in fact investigate UFO,s individually. The OSS investigated
what US pilots had nicknamed "Foo Fighters (UFO,s trailing
our aircraft) during World War II, fearing that these objects
could be a "new secret weapon from either Germany or
Japan. The OSS also investigated possible sightings of German
V-1 and V-2 rockets before their operational use during the
war.] Jacobs, UFO Controversy, p. 33 [The Central Intelligence
Group, the predecessor of the CIA, also monitored reports
of "ghost rockets" in Sweden in 1946.] CIG, Intelligence
Report, 9 April 1947.
The CIA's "official" position on the" investigation
of UFO's" from a historical stand point is this; [ Although
it had "monitored UFO reports for at least three years,
(49 to 52) CIA reacted to the new rash of sightings by forming
a special study group within the Office of Scientific Intelligence
(OSI) and the Office of Current Intelligence (OCI) to review
the situation.] Gerald K. Haines, National Reconnaissance
Office historian, Ralph L. Clark, Acting Assistant Director,
OSI, memorandum to DDI Robert Amory, Jr., 29 July 1952. OSI
and OCI were in the Directorate of Intelligence. Established
in 1948, OSI served as the CIA's focal point for the analysis
of foreign scientific and technological developments. In 1980,
OSI was merged into the Office of Science and Weapons Research.
The Office of Current Intelligence (OCI), established on 15
January 1951 was to provide all-source current intelligence
to the President and the National Security Council.
Until 1952, one could conclude, based on these statements,
that the CIA had no "direct involvement" in the
investigation of "flying saucers," other then a
monitoring position of other agencies, i.e., [ the Air Force's
Project SIGN (initially named Project SAUCER) to collect,
collate, evaluate, and distribute within the government all
information relating to such sightings, on the premise that
UFOs might be real and of national security concern.] Jacobs,
The UFO Controversy, p. 156 and Quintanilla, "The Investigation
of UFOs," p. 97. [Amid mounting UFO sightings, the Air
Force continued to collect and evaluate UFO data in the late
1940s under a new project, GRUDGE, which tried to alleviate
public anxiety over UFOs via a public relations campaign designed
to persuade the public that UFOs constituted nothing unusual
or extraordinary. UFO sightings were explained as balloons,
conventional aircraft, planets, meteors, optical illusions,
solar reflections, or even "large hailstones." They
recommended that the project be reduced in scope because the
very existence of Air Force official interest encouraged people
to believe in UFOs and contributed to a "war hysteria"
atmosphere. On 27 December 1949, the Air Force announced the
project's termination.] Air Force, Projects GRUDGE and BLUEBOOK
Reports 1- 12 (Washington, DC; National Investigations Committee
on Aerial Phenomena, 1968) and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy,
pp. 50-54.
Now this is where it gets interesting; there seems to be a
contradiction in facts as "evidenced" by the "Oral
History Interview with Robert B. Landry" given February
28, 1974, by, James R. Fuchs for Harry S. Truman Library:
(Robert B. Landry was a member of faculty, National War College,
1946; Executive Officer to Army Air Force Chief of Staff,
General Carl Spaatz, 1947; United States Air Force Aide to
President Truman, 1948-53).
Subject: UFOs; Date: 1948
In this time period the UFO phenomenon was getting quite a
bit of play in the press, radio, TV and from miscellaneous
other sources. All manner of objects and things were being
seen in the sky by people, including attempted UFO landings
and UFO hoverings over isolated areas. There was even a report
of seeing little men with big round heads getting in and out
of a UFO. Well, the President, like any other citizen, is
exposed to all these goings on, too.
In any case, I was called one afternoon to come to the Oval
Office--the President wanted to see me. We talked about UFO
reports and what might be the meaning for all these rather
way-out reports of sightings, and the subject in general.The
president said he hadn't give much serious thought to all
these reports; but at the same time, he said, if there was
any evidence of a strategic threat to the national security,
the collection and evaluation of UFO data by Central Intelligence
warranted more intense study and attention at the highest
government level.
I was directed to report quarterly to the President after
consulting with Central Intelligence people, as to whether
or not any UFO incidents received by them could be considered
as having any strategic threatening implications at all.
The report was to be made orally by me unless it was considered
by intelligence to be so serious or alarming as to warrant
a more detailed report in writing. During the four and one-half
years in office there, all reports were made orally. Nothing
of substance considered credible or threatening to the country
was ever received from intelligence. Note: the Air Force had
been charged by the Department of Defense with the collection
and evaluation of UFO data from all sources such as the other
services, the National Weather Service, and any other reliable
source.
It would appear, based on "that interview" that
the CIA was "directly involved" in the "investigation
of UFO's" as early as 1948, not 1952, as previously mentioned
in the article by Gerald K. Haines. Landry concludes that
"nothing of substance considered credible or threatening
to the country was ever received from intelligence,"
however we know that's not true based on Haines' article;
[ a massive buildup of sightings over the United States in
1952, especially in July, alarmed the Truman administration.
On 19 and 20 July, radar scopes at Washington National Airport
and Andrews Air Force Base tracked mysterious blips. On 27
July, the blips reappeared.]
Personally I believe that Landry played no real part in any
serious investigation by CIA. I think his role, was for appearance
sake, unwittingly. Truman was receiving "intelligence
reports" on a daily and weekly basis, since 1946, from
CIG, then CIA beginning in 47. There would have been no reason
for Landry to be involved. Having said that, remember that
"flying saucers" were being seen all over the country
and were making headlines coast to coast. Any "lack of
response" on Truman's part, I think would have been highly
unusual. So, overtly, he tasked Landry in his minor role,
to report to the President as to "appease" outward
appearances of official concern of the "aerial phenomenon."
In conclusion, as more and more documents become "declassified,"
I think we as the public, won't be surprised to see the "ever
changing" official positions of various government agencies.
Moreover we've witnessed this in recent years, with the Air
Force's explanation(s) of the "Roswell Incident. Fortunately,
with man's advancement in personal technologies, i.e., desk
top computers, camcorders, and the internet, it's getting
much harder for the government to pass off eye witness sightings
of UFO's as, mass hysteria, hallucination, swamp gas, ball
lightening or heat inversions. Because of that, this author
feels we're coming to the inevitable, eventuality of "government
disclosure" that we are but a member, of a vast galactic
society.
© 2001 Frank Warren frank-warren@pacbell.net
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