Saucer-like helicopters claim (1984)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 9
Saucer-like helicopters claim (1984)
| Date | 11 March 1984 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Nuclear & missile sites (topic) |
| People | Christopher "Kit" Green, Jacques Vallée |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 96 |
| Year | 1984 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1984 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 15 |
The saucer-like helicopters claim is a one-sentence entry in the journals of Jacques Vallée, dated 11 March 1984: "I am reminded that Kit once interviewed a soldier of fortune, specialised in nuclear security testing, whose group used helicopters designed to appear as flying saucers."[1] "Kit" was Christopher "Kit" Green, a CIA officer and physician who was one of Vallée's regular contacts.[2] The entry appears on page 137 of the third volume of Vallée's Forbidden Science journals, as quoted by the researcher Keith Basterfield.[1] It gives no name, date, place or unit, and no document has emerged to confirm it. It also appears in Michael Shellenberger's 2024 timeline for Congress.[13] If true, it would suggest that some reports of UFOs over sensitive sites could have been staged security tests.
The journal entry
- Wording. Vallée's entry for 11 March 1984 reads: "I am reminded that Kit once interviewed a soldier of fortune, specialised in nuclear security testing, whose group used helicopters designed to appear as flying saucers."[1]
- Where it appears. Basterfield included it in an October 2016 post, "Little snippets from Jacques Vallée's journals". The post gathered items from volume three (1980–1989) that he "would really like to know more about", and invited readers to add information.[1]
- What is missing. The entry does not say when or where Green interviewed the man, who he worked for, which nuclear facilities his group tested, or how the helicopters were disguised.[1]
- Shellenberger's version. Shellenberger's timeline summarises the entry as Green telling Vallée that he once interviewed "a soldier" who specialised in nuclear security testing and whose group used helicopters designed to look like flying saucers. Vallée's text says "soldier of fortune", meaning a mercenary.[1][13] The journal wording ("I am reminded that...") also suggests Vallée was recalling an earlier conversation rather than recording a new one that day.[1]
The 1981 mercenary story
- An earlier entry. Vallée's journal for 26 September 1981 records Green picking him up at Dulles airport and describing a recent trip to Thailand.[2]
- Same man? The 1984 entry may refer to this same encounter, but neither entry links the two explicitly.[1][2] The earlier version of this article cited the 1981 entry as background.
- The same conversation. In the same 1981 conversation, Green and Vallée discussed the Cash–Landrum case. Green feared two of its witnesses might die from their injuries. They also discussed whether a secret UFO project existed in France or the United States, and Green "remains skeptical".[2]
Kit Green
- CIA career. According to Basterfield, Green worked for the CIA from 1969 to 1985, first as an analyst and later in senior posts. A small part of his work concerned remote viewing research and UFOs.[2]
- He graduated from Northwestern University in 1962 and earned his doctorate at the University of Colorado Medical School in 1969.[2]
- After leaving the CIA he worked for General Motors, then returned to full-time medicine around 2005.[2]
- He is a medical doctor with a particular interest in military medicine.[6]
- In Vallée's journals. Green appears throughout Vallée's 1980s journals.[2]
- He passed on an NSA intercept about a Russian ship that saw a "flying cigar" off Gibraltar.[1]
- He discussed cattle mutilations, satellite data on sightings and the contactee Valerie Ransone.[2]
- In 1988 he said that "MJ12" had existed but had studied psychological warfare, not UFOs.[2] See Kit Green on MJ-12 (1988).
- In 1989 he investigated a secure Pentagon suite rumoured to house a UFO project. A friend reported back that it did "aerial coverage against certain types of threats" and "has nothing to do with UFOs".[2]
- Later work. After 2005 Green compiled medical data on people reportedly injured in encounters with unexplained phenomena. That work was later discussed by the Stanford immunologist Garry Nolan.[2][7][12]
Context
- Helicopters over nuclear sites. Unidentified "helicopters" had been reported over nuclear weapons storage areas at several Strategic Air Command bases in October and November 1975, and were never identified.[14] See Samuel Stratton and the SAC base overflights.
- Helicopters and cattle mutilations. Mysterious helicopters were also widely reported during the cattle mutilation waves of the 1970s.[3]
- In April 1973 sheriffs in western Iowa reported unidentified helicopters involved in cattle and pig rustling. In August, with similar reports from Missouri, authorities warned farmers not to fire on helicopters.[3]
- In 1974 a helicopter with a spotlight was seen hovering near Agnew, Nebraska, days before a mutilated cow was found there. The FAA and National Guard said they knew of no helicopters operating in the area.[3]
- See Cattle mutilations.
- Human deception. Vallée often considered whether human agencies were behind or exploiting UFO events. In September 1989 he wrote that there was "evidence of a large disinformation campaign", though he could "find no trace" of what it was meant to hide.[15] The earlier version of this article said Vallée long suspected some UFO events were staged by human agencies. That broad view fits the sources read here, though they do not tie it to this entry.
Assessment
- Second-hand. The claim passed from an unnamed mercenary to Green to Vallée, who recorded it as a memory.[1] No documents in the sources read here show helicopters disguised as flying saucers, or a security-testing group that used them.
- Why it is cited. If true, it would offer a human explanation for some low-level "UFO" reports over sensitive sites. It would also mean that some military security tests used deliberately confusing craft.[1][14] It remains an uncorroborated anecdote.
People and topics
- Christopher "Kit" Green — CIA physician and analyst who became a long-time contact of Jacques Vallée and studied UAP-related injuries.
- Jacques Vallée — Computer scientist and astronomer, author of the Forbidden Science journals and a central figure in UFO research.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Central Intelligence Agency — The U.S. foreign intelligence agency, which has followed UFO reports since the 1940s.
- Strategic Air Command — The Air Force command that controlled U.S. nuclear bombers and missiles.
On the Timeline
- Sarbacher letter (1983) (29 November 1983) — Physicist Robert Sarbacher writes that he heard of recovered UAP materials while consulting for the Pentagon.
- Remote viewers and a military trial anomaly (1984) (May 1984) — Alleged CIA documents describe the Army's remote viewers studying an anomaly during military trials.
See every 1984 event on the UAP Timeline →
Further reading
- Jacques Vallée — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
References
- Keith Basterfield, "Little snippets from Jacques Vallée's journals", UFOs – scientific research (Oct 2016) · ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com · archived copy
- Keith Basterfield, "Christopher 'Kit' Canfield Green – further", UFOs – scientific research (Apr 2018) · ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com · archived copy
- Cattle mutilation — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Forbidden Science — the journals of Jacques Vallée (Anomaly Archives) · anomalyarchives.org · archived copy
- Forbidden Science series — Anomalist Books · anomalistbooks.com · archived copy
- Kit Green in Vallée's journals — Forbidden Science Dispatches · tannerfboyle.substack.com · archived copy
- Kit Green, Garry Nolan and UAP-related injuries — IBTimes · ibtimes.co.uk · archived copy
- Former CIA officer on UFO-related injuries — TweakTown · tweaktown.com · archived copy
- Review of Forbidden Science 6 — SFCrowsnest · sfcrowsnest.info · archived copy
- Forbidden Science Dispatches — Tanner Boyle (journal summaries) · tannerfboyle.substack.com · archived copy
- Kit Green — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Garry Nolan on UFO materials and Kit Green's patient studies (Vice interview) · exo.substack.com · archived copy
- Michael Shellenberger, written testimony to the House Oversight Committee (13 November 2024), p. 96 · oversight.house.gov
- "The bizarre mystery of unexplained aerial incursions over Loring Air Force Base", The War Zone · twz.com
- Keith Basterfield, "Was there secret US government research?" (October 2016) · ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com
Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia articles “Cattle mutilation”, “Kit Green”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Categories: 1984 | Central intelligence agency | Christopher kit green | Jacques vallée | Nuclear missile sites | Strategic air command | Timeline event | Unidentified flying object
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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