Australian Dept of Defense Scientific and Intel Aspects of the UFO Problem

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APPENDIX "A"

CHRONOLOGY OF U.S. INVESTIGATION INTO U.F.O. PHENOMENA

Date | Event
24.6.47 | Arnold sighting of nine "saucers" creates public interest.
6.47 | Investigations initiated by Air Technical Intelligence Centre (ATIC) of Air Material Command (AMC, Army Air Forces) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Initially Soviet advanced aircraft were suspected.
26.7.47 | National Security Act creates both the USAF and CIA.
23.9.47 | Lt Gen. Twining (AMC) requested the Commander Army Air Forces to issue an authority, priority and code name for the investigation of "flying discs". Preliminary conclusions by AMC were that the phenomena were "real and not visionary or fictitious", that the objects were mostly disc-shaped about the size of man-made aircraft and were intelligently controlled. Any U.S. attempt to design aircraft of similar performance would be costly, time-consuming and detrimental to other projects. Investigations by AMC would continue pending further advice.
30.12.47 | Authority given to AMC to investigate the phenomena on a priority 2A basis under the code-name Project Sign. Minimum classification was Restricted, reports were to be made quarterly and data exchanged with interested parties.
15.1.48 | USAF officially a separate service.
22.1.48 | Project Sign starts officially.
24.7.48 | Near-collision between DC3 and UFO prompt ATIC to write an Estimate of the Situation.
9.48 | The Top Secret Estimate was forwarded to the Pentagon. The conclusion that UFO's were of interplanetary origin was not acceptable to the Air Force Chief of Staff (General Vandenberg) who insisted on demonstrable proof not circumstantial evidence. ATIC was unable to provide UFO hardware or detailed photographs.
13.12.48 | Dr J.E. Lipp of the Hand Corporation replied to the Director or Research and Development, USAF, that if the flying objects were inter-planetary they would most likely originate from Mars although intelligent life as we know it would "be more occupied with survival than we are on Earth". Our present technology cannot conceive as to how an inter-stellar race could reach Earth, even though it is conceded that there is a high probability that intelligent life does exist within say 16 light-years from Earth.
1.49 | USAF orders Project Sign to become Project Grudge which should terminate before the end of 1949.
2.49 | Final report of Project Sign (TR-2274-IA of the Technical Intelligence Division AMC) recommended that only a minimum effort be devoted to recording, analyzing and evaluating reports, but on the other hand where factual

National Archives of Australia

NAA A13693, 3092/2/000