A lot has already been written on the subject of UFO’s, but none of it presents the true, complete story.  Previous forays into the ufo field have been based on inadequate information and have been warped to fit the personal biases of the individual writers.  Well meaning though these authors may be, the degree to which their books have misinformed the public is incalculable.

It is high time that we let the people know.

The following chapters present the true and complete ufo story, based on what I learned about UFO’s while I was chief of Project Blue Book, the Air Force’s project for the investigation and analysis of ufo reports.  Here is the same information that I gave to Secretary of the Air Force, Thomas K. Finletter, to the Air Force commanders, to scientists and industrialists.  This is what the Air Force knows about unidentified flying objects.

You may not agree with some of the official ideas or conclusions—­ neither did a lot of people I briefed—­but this is the story.

CHAPTER TWO

The Era of Confusion Begins

On September 23, 1947, the chief of the Air Technical Intelligence Center, one of the Air Force’s most highly specialized intelligence units, sent a letter to the Commanding General of the then Army Air Forces.

The letter was in answer to the Commanding General’s verbal request to make a preliminary study of the reports of unidentified flying objects.  The letter said that after a preliminary study of ufo reports, ATIC concluded that, to quote from the letter, “the reported phenomena were real.”  The letter strongly urged that a permanent project be established at ATIC to investigate and analyze future ufo reports.  It requested a priority for the project, a registered code name, and an over-all security classification.  ATICs request was granted and Project Sign, the forerunner of Project Grudge and Project Blue Book, was launched.  It was given a 2A priority, 1A being the highest priority an Air Force project could have.  With this the Air Force dipped into the most prolonged and widespread controversy it has ever, or may ever, encounter.  The Air Force grabbed the proverbial bear by the tail and to this day it hasn’t been able to let loose.

The letter to the Commanding General of the Army Air Forces from the chief of ATIC had used the word “phenomena.”  History has shown that this was not a too well-chosen word.  But on September 23, 1947, when the letter was written, ATICs intelligence specialists were confident that within a few months or a year they would have the answer to the question, “What are UFO’s?” The question, “Do UFO’s exist?” was never mentioned.  The only problem that confronted the people at ATIC was, “Were the UFO’s of Russian or interplanetary origin?” Either case called for a serious, secrecy-shrouded project.  Only top people at ATIC were assigned to Project Sign.