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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

In Reply, Please Refer to
File No.

Denver, Colorado

April 26, 1960

Re: UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS, INVESTIGATIVE SOCIETY; GEORGE W. VAN TASSEL

On April 17, 1960, a lecture was given by GEORGE W. VAN TASSEL at Phipps Auditorium, City Park, Denver, Colorado, which was advertised to be a lecture, movie films, and discussion of unidentified flying objects. The audience was comprised of a majority of older individuals and also a majority of the audience was female. There were few young people, although some family groups.

The program was sponsored by the Denver Unidentified Flying Objects Investigative Societies, one of which meets monthly at the Jefferson County Bank, Lakewood, Colorado, whose executive officer was the Master of Ceremonies. The program consisted of a 45 minute movie which included several shots of things purported to be flying saucers, and then a number of interviews with people from all walks of life regarding sightings they had made of such unidentified flying objects. After the movie GEORGE W. VAN TASSEL gave a lecture which was more of a religious-economics lecture rather than one of unidentified flying objects.

VAN TASSEL stated that he had been in the "flying game" for over 30 years and currently operates a private Civil Aeronautics Authority approved airfield in California. He said he has personally observed a good many sightings and has talked to hundreds of people who have also seen flying saucers. He said that he has also been visited by the people from outer space and has taken up the cause of bringing the facts of these people to the American people. He said it is a crusade which he has undertaken because he is more or less retired, his family is grown and gone from home, and he feels he might be doing some good by this work.

PROPERTY OF FBI - This memorandum is loaned to you by the FBI, and neither it nor its contents are to be distributed outside the agency to which loaned.