McClellan subcommittee persuaded against hearings (1958)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 28 February 1958 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic), Congress & law (topic) |
| People | John McClellan |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 61 |
| Year | 1958 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1958 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 10 |
In early 1958 the U.S. Air Force persuaded investigators for Senator John McClellan's Senate Government Operations subcommittee that it was hiding nothing about UFOs, and the subcommittee decided against public hearings. Declassified Air Force papers later described such briefings as a way of "averting" congressional hearings.[1][2]
Background
In the late 1950s the civilian group NICAP, led by retired Marine Major Donald Keyhoe, pressed hard for congressional hearings on UFOs and accused the Air Force of secrecy.[3]
The inquiry
On 31 January 1958 the subcommittee's investigators held informal discussions with Air Force representatives about claims that UFO information was being withheld. A NICAP officer later wrote that a subcommittee investigator had questioned Keyhoe about a document whose existence the Air Force subsequently acknowledged. An Air Force general involved in liaison with Congress wrote on 28 February 1958 that the talks had satisfied the investigators, who concluded that public hearings were not worth the time and money; none were held.[1][4]
Air Force strategy
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A later Air Force paper of 1962 noted that congressional hearings on UFOs had been averted in 1958, 1960 and 1961 by privately briefing key members and staff; a House subcommittee under John McCormack also held closed sessions in 1958. The approach reflected the Robertson Panel's 1953 advice to reduce public interest in the subject. A short public hearing finally took place in April 1966 before the House Armed Services Committee, after the Michigan "swamp gas" sightings, followed by a longer congressional symposium in 1968.[1][2][5]
People and topics
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
- John McClellan — Senator whose Government Operations subcommittee was persuaded not to hold UFO hearings in 1958.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Robertson Panel — Robertson Panel
- NICAP — The leading U.S. civilian UFO group of the 1950s and 1960s.
- House Armed Services Committee — The House committee that held a UFO hearing in 1966.
- Michigan swamp gas UFO reports — A 1966 wave of UFO reports in Michigan that J. Allen Hynek suggested might be marsh gas.
On the Timeline
- John Lilly and the alleged hypnosis project (1958) — An alleged Air Force project used drugs and hypnosis; one participant believed he contacted aliens.
- Henderson UFO briefing (1958) (20 June 1958) — The Air Force briefs members of Congress on handling constituent questions about UAP.
See every 1958 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- 1958 McClellan congressional subcommittee documents, AFU archive · files.afu.se · archived copy
- Paul McCarthy, "The Roush hearings" (dissertation chapter), Project 1947 · project1947.com · archived copy
- National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Letter to Major Donald F. Keyhoe", CIA Reading Room · cia.gov · archived copy
- Air Force and congressional UFO documents (1958), UFO Scans · ufoscans.com · archived copy
- 1958 McCormack subcommittee briefing documents — UFOScans · ufoscans.com · archived copy
- 1958 Rep. Henderson briefing documents — UFOScans · ufoscans.com · archived copy
- 'Congress is being pressed for flying saucer probe' — CIA reading room · cia.gov · archived copy
- Donald Keyhoe — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- 'Congress is being pressed for flying saucer probe' — CIA Reading Room · cia.gov · archived copy
Further reading
- U.S. congressional hearings on UFOs — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · 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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