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

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U.S. OPFICIAL ATTITUDE TO U.P.D•:s
In June of 19,17 the Air Techni~ o.l Int('lligcncc Centre
(ATIC) near Dayton, Ohio, assumed a. re·,pcnsibility to investiga.te
the ioitio.l 1 ::.:ports of 'flying saucers'.
Vi tldn a month ii, 1ou
cons:iderc~I tho:!. tlui plHWDllH!llct. Wt!.tl~ I"F!tLl o.nd !H·obably of Soviet
origin.
Ey the end of' the y .. a.r 1 when ATIC was offie ial ly author iso-i
to invntiga.to under the project code no.n.c of SIGN and with a. high
priority,most nf the investigators lrl'er:: focus:dng on an inter­
planetary ra~her tha11 a. Soviet origin.
TJJese opi n:i ans were
cry:stalliz:;-d into 11 "'ri tten csti:nate that .,,·as sent to the Pentagon
in September 1948.
Vnen the inte rplo.nc to.ry cone lusions were re ,:j ~c .od
on th<J groumls of instifficiant ha.rd evidence, a reaction :set in a.t
ATIC e.gl!l.insti trying to unravel the liFO problem.
2.
In Febru~ry 1949, ATIC personnol ur. Project SIG~ were
replaced Witt> nev personnel 1-0 form Project tHtUJJGE.
A defini·te
attempt vas mado during !.9·19 to use Project GRUDGE to destroy any
acccptani::o of UPO'!!!.
The motives for this ;ue not t:lear: po:s:o.ih!y
Air Pore,~ embarnLssmE!.n t at being incap.,.ble of controlling tha
situation <tnd/ :•r a fear of national p{l.nic prompted L"SAF to try and
remove the problem by denying its existence.
Another possible
motive mo.y have been to provide a breathing spncc ror nno Urnr
"inve:stigati ve agency '1 to 1·each some cone lusion; the agency had been
asehting A.TIC through 1948 and, con1.rary to official USAF policy,
vas maintaining a bich level of interest during 1949.
This govcrn~ental
agency '-'IHI not th,~ FBI, e.nd had rcckl!'t, nuclca.· and inti!llig,~ncP.
experts; their pur1,o,;;e was to study OFO n:port,s in an effort to HlltllE!l'
de:,ign data Oil int-erplanetury spacesh ip!'I.
In lhe light of l.a ter
development~, thiR agency wus almost certainly the CIA.
3.
Project GRUDGE failed to eliminate the UFO problem,
U1"0
reports in 1949 actmdly exceeded the numbr!r in 1918, and several
people who had gained ,1.ccess to earlier offici,d repor!.s wPre ublli
to contnuJic l Lhe USAF.
Journalists gonero.lly !el t that GRCDGE
:reporting represented e. cover to a more serious kno•.!cdgc.
Eventually,
USAF intelligence dE>c ided. thi'.t a fresh approo.ch to the JJr1,bl em "'HS
ne-ccs~ary.
Between Se1,t.r1m·:Jr:r 1951 unu I.he establ:i.shnent of Pro,i(•Ct
BLUE BOOK in March 1952, UFO investigation rugn.incd ndcquo.tc finrinC'inl
and o.dministra:tive :JUpport to once a.gain aaa.ly:se the col lee teu uc.ta,
Projttct BLUE IlOOK was a.ble tu process !Jiu data frci::n 3,200 report,E int.o
a form suitable for their consul tan Ls to bl' :!.blc to use IBM card-
National Archives of Australia
NAA: A 13693, 3092/2/000