When Lieut.  Colonel Rosengarten and Lieutenant Cummings had been at the Pentagon briefing Major General Cabell on the Fort Monmouth incidents, the general had told them to report back when the new project was formed and ready to go.  We were ready to go, but before taking my ideas to the Pentagon, I thought it might be wise to try them out on a few other people to get their reaction.  Colonel Frank Dunn, then chief of ATIC, liked this idea.  We had many well-known scientists and engineers who periodically visited ATIC as consultants, and Colonel Dunn suggested that these people’s opinions and comments would be valuable.  For the next two weeks every visitor to ATIC who had a reputation as a scientist, engineer, or scholar got a UFO briefing.

Unfortunately the names of these people cannot be revealed because I promised them complete anonymity.  But the list reads like a page from Great Men of Science.

Altogether nine people visited the project during this trial period.  Of the nine, two thought the Air Force was wasting its time, one could be called indifferent, and six were very enthusiastic over the project.  This was a shock to me.  I had expected reactions that ranged from an extremely cold absolute zero to a mild twenty below.  Instead I found out that UFO’s were being freely and seriously discussed in scientific circles.  The majority of the visitors thought that the Air Force had goofed on previous projects and were very happy to find out that the project was being re-established.  All of the visitors, even the two who thought we were wasting our time, had good suggestions on what to do.  All of them offered their services at any future time when they might be needed.  Several of these people became very good friends and valuable consultants later on.

About two weeks before Christmas, in 1951, Colonel Dunn and I went to the Pentagon to give my report.  Major General John A. Samford had replaced Major General Cabell as Director of Intelligence, but General Samford must have been told about the UFO situation because he was familiar with the general aspects of the problem.  He had appointed his Assistant for Production, Brigadier General W. M. Garland, to ride herd on the project for him.

Colonel Dunn briefly outlined to General Samford what we planned to do.  He explained our basic policy, that of setting aside the unknowns and not speculating on them, and he told how the scientists visiting ATIC had liked the plans for the new Project Grudge.

There was some discussion about the Air Force’s and ATIC’s responsibility for the UFO reports.  General Garland stated, and it was later confirmed in writing, that the Air Force was solely responsible for investigating and evaluating all UFO reports.  Within the Air Force, ATIC was the responsible agency.  This in turn meant that Project Grudge was responsible for all UFO reports made by any branch of the military service.  I started my briefing by telling General Samford and his staff about the present UFO situation.