RAND Corporation
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏢 Organization
Contents 5
| Type | Organization |
|---|---|
| Also known as | RAND |
| On the Timeline | 1 event, 1950 |
The RAND Corporation is an American nonprofit research organisation based in Santa Monica, California, founded after the Second World War to carry out research for the U.S. Air Force. In UFO history it is known for an internal 1968 paper, UFOs: What to Do?, which argued that UFOs deserved serious scientific study.[1][2]
History
Project RAND was set up in late 1945 under a contract between the Army Air Forces and the Douglas Aircraft Company. In May 1946 it produced one of the first studies of an artificial satellite, Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship. RAND became an independent nonprofit corporation on 14 May 1948, with early funding from the Ford Foundation.[1]
Influence
RAND researchers shaped Cold War nuclear strategy, including ideas of deterrence, and applied game theory to military problems; strategist Herman Kahn published On Thermonuclear War in 1960. RAND analyst Daniel Ellsberg later leaked the Pentagon Papers. Its researchers also contributed ideas used in building the internet. It employs around 2,000 people.[1]
UFOs: What to Do?
On 27 November 1968, while the University of Colorado's Condon study was still under way, RAND staff member George Kocher wrote an internal paper titled UFOs: What to Do?, marked "For RAND Use Only". In five essays he reviewed the history of sightings, the astronomical possibility of advanced life elsewhere, the character of reports and their patterns, and possible explanations ranging from hoaxes to extraterrestrial probes. He concluded that while most reports could be explained, a credible minority described machine-like objects worth investigating, and he criticised the CIA-sponsored 1953 recommendation to debunk reports.[2][3]
Kocher recommended a central agency to receive reports, with permanent investigators, easy ways for the public and police to report sightings, a network of scientists for rapid local investigations, and the review of radar and other sensor records for anomalies. RAND has said the paper was an internal document, not prepared for any of its clients.[2][3]
On the UAP Timeline
- RAND memorandum RM-365 (14 April 1950) — An Air Force-funded RAND paper studies using superstition and the paranormal for psychological warfare.
References
- RAND Corporation — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- George Kocher, "UFOs: What to Do?" (27 Nov 1968), transcribed by Patrick Gross · ufologie.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- "UFOs: What to Do?", RAND DRU-1571, Defense Technical Information Center · apps.dtic.mil · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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