FOIA: Congressional Briefing July 11-15, 1960

Congressional_Briefing_Jul196 0.pdf
Congressional Briefing July 11-15, 1960
Memos advising of a Congressional Briefing Inquiry regarding UFO
Document date: 1960-06-07
Department: USAF, Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center
Author: Maj. Robert J. Friend, Col. Richard R. Shoop
Document type: Memo, letters
pages: 22


Archivist's Notes: Majority readable. Several memos describing the talking points and outcome of a Congressional Hearing, along with discussion of funding, procedures and names involved in the briefing

This Congressional Briefing was a summary of the current level of investigation of the UFO phenomenon by the Air Force, and also states that it was inadequate. It continues with remarks that have been made by civilian UFO groups and Major Donald Keyhoe that the Air force was not investigating reports well enough. This was based on an incident in Red Bluff California that did not satisfy the UFO public, but the Air force refused to investigate further.

Mr. Robert Smart of the Armed Services Committee was requesting that more resources be spent on “special cases”, because ATIC (Air Technical Intelligence Center), the investigative body of the Air Force, was only capable of handling “routine” cases.

The request was for additional resource committed to the investigative group as well as access to government agencies like NASA to help with the analysis of reports. Another request was to continue to contract the services of Dr. J. Allen Hynek. The annual budget of $3,000 dollars should be increased by another $1,000 dollars, which even back then was a shoestring budget.

The briefing is followed with a letter from ATIC as proof that they refused to investigate the Red Bluff case. Page 6, appear to be some hand written notes, that are hard to make out, but the last line is legible saying “to tell the truth”. It may be interesting to try to figure out what the rest of it says.

On page 9-10 is a report of a meeting held with various congressmen and civilian investigators as well as Air Force personnel to discuss the situation. The Air Force defended itself against the claim that they were withholding information from Congressional Committees by stated that it did not possess any proof that the aerial phenomenon were interplanetary vehicles. These pages are partly illegible.

Page 13 is of a request for summary reports from ATIC on four UFO incidents. Following letters were again about the meeting and of the same recommendations to improve the investigations of UFO sightings.

The last pages are of letters from the Air Force stating that it would comply with the recommendations and increase personnel for the investigations.

Related Links:
Donald Keyhoe
J. Allen Hynek
Other Congressional Hearings on UFOs

This sort of documentation is very important to go through because they give a better picture of what was going on 'behind the scenes' back in the early UFO phenomena. What the general public doesn't know is that the government and it structures took the phenomena very seriously and investigated for a long time bringing the problem to the full attention of the highest institutions of the country. And as everybody into the ufology knows, after that the veil of secrecy covered everything and nothing has been heard ever since officially (if you don't count little leaks here and there).

I found interesting the classification of membership of UFO groups as being there for financial gains, ignorant and using the organizations as cold war tool.
Nice analysis Hal9000. I was starting to feel as Last Standing Defender (read archivist) since I'm the only one dealing with the documents in the last weak. C'mon guys, where is the rest of the gang?