| |
The United States
Air Force Project Blue Book
In July 1952, after a build-up of hundreds of
sightings over the previous few months, a series
of radar detections coincident with visual
sightings were observed near the National
Airport in Washington, D.C. (see 1952 Washington
D.C. UFO incident). One of the eye-witnesses was
John McCain.
After much publicity, these sightings led the
Central Intelligence Agency to establish a panel
of scientists headed by Dr. H. P. Robertson, a
physicist of the California Institute of
Technology, which included various physicists,
meteorologists, and engineers, and one
astronomer (Hynek). The Robertson Panel first
met on January 14, 1953 in order to formulate a
response to the overwhelming public interest in
UFOs.
Ruppelt, Hynek, and others presented the best
evidence, including movie footage, that had been
collected by Blue Book. After spending 12 hours
reviewing 6 years of data, the Robertson Panel
concluded that most UFO reports had prosaic
explanations, and that all could be explained
with further investigation, which they deemed
not worth the effort.
In their final report, they stressed that
low-grade, unverifiable UFO reports were
overloading intelligence channels, with the risk
of missing a genuine conventional threat to the
U.S. Therefore, they recommended the Air Force
de-emphasize the subject of UFOs and embark on a
debunking campaign to lessen public interest.
They suggested debunkery through the mass media,
including The Walt Disney Company, and using
psychologists, astronomers, and celebrities to
ridicule the phenomenon and put forward prosaic
explanations. Furthermore, civilian UFO groups
"should be watched because of their potentially
great influence on mass thinking… The apparent
irresponsibility and the possible use of such
groups for subversive purposes should be kept in
mind."
It is the conclusion of many researchers that
the Robertson Panel was recommending controlling
public opinion through a program of official
propaganda and spying. They also believe these
recommendations helped shape Air Force policy
regarding UFO study not only immediately
afterwards, but also into the present day. There
is evidence that the Panel's recommendations
were being carried out at least two decades
after its conclusions were issued (see the main
article for details and citations).
In December 1953, Joint Army-Navy-Air Force
Regulation number 146 made it a crime for
military personnel to discuss classified UFO
reports with unauthorized persons. Violators
faced up to two years in prison and/or fines of
up to $10,000.
Aftermath of Robertson panel
In his book Ruppelt described the
demoralization of the Blue Book staff and the
stripping of their investigative duties
following the Robertson Panel. As an immediate
consequence of the Robertson Panel
recommendations, in February 1953, the Air Force
issued Regulation 200-2, ordering air base
officers to publicly discuss UFO incidents only
if they were judged to have been solved, and to
classify all the unsolved cases to keep them out
of the public eye.
The same month, investigative duties started to
be taken on by the newly formed 4602nd Air
Intelligence Squadron (AISS) of the Air Defense
Command. The 4602nd AISS was tasked with
investigating only the most important UFO cases
with intelligence or national security
implications. These were deliberately siphoned
away from Blue Book, leaving Blue Book to deal
with the more trivial reports.
General Nathan Twining, who got Project Sign
started back in 1947, was now Air Force Chief of
Staff. In August 1954, he was to further codify
the responsibilities of the 4602nd AISS by
issuing an updated Air Force Regulation 200-2.
In addition, UFOs (called "UFOBs") were defined
as "any airborne object which by performance,
aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual
features, does not conform to any presently
known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot
be positively identified as a familiar object."
Investigation of UFOs was stated to be for the
purposes of national security and to ascertain
"technical aspects." AFR 200-2 again stated that
Blue Book could discuss UFO cases with the media
only if they were regarded as having a
conventional explanation. If they were
unidentified, the media was to be told only that
the situation was being analyzed. Blue Book was
also ordered to reduce the number of
unidentified to a minimum.
All this was done secretly. The public face of
Blue Book continued to be the official Air Force
investigation of UFOs, but the reality was it
had essentially been reduced to doing very
little serious investigation, and had become
almost solely a public relations outfit with a
debunking mandate. To cite one example, by the
end of 1956, the number of cases listed as
unsolved had dipped to barely 0.4 percent, from
the 20 to 30% it had been only a few years
earlier.
Eventually, Ruppelt requested reassignment; at
his departure in August 1953, his staff had been
reduced from more than ten (precise numbers of
personnel varied) to just two subordinates and
himself. His temporary replacement was a
noncommissioned officer. Most who succeeded him
as Blue Book director exhibited either apathy or
outright hostility to the subject of UFOs, or
were hampered by a lack of funding and official
support.
UFO investigators often regard Ruppelt's brief
tenure at Blue Book as the high-water mark of
public Air Force investigations of UFOs, when
UFO investigations were treated seriously and
had support at high levels. Thereafter,
Project Blue Book descended into a new "Dark
Ages" from which many UFO investigators argue it
never emerged. However, Ruppelt later came to
embrace the Blue Book perspective that there was
nothing extraordinary about UFOs; he even
labeled the subject a "Space Age Myth." 
UFOs over
Sheffield, England, in 1962
|
