Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency

Type	Organization
Also known as	CIA
On the Timeline	90 events, 1947–2022

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the U.S. foreign intelligence agency, created in 1947. It has followed UFO reports since its first years, mainly as a question of national security: whether the objects could be Soviet weapons and whether a flood of reports could be exploited in a crisis.

Key episodes

In 1952 the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence grew concerned after the Washington, D.C., sightings and convened the Robertson Panel in January 1953, which recommended reducing public interest in UFOs and watching civilian groups. In the 1970s the agency funded remote-viewing research at SRI, and in 1978 a lawsuit by Ground Saucer Watch forced it to release about 900 pages of UFO documents. A 1997 history by Gerald Haines admitted that the Air Force had misled the public about some sightings to protect secret CIA spy-plane flights.

Allegations

Former officials and researchers have claimed the CIA ran or monitored secret UFO programs, and the agency appears in many disputed documents, including the MJ-12 papers. The CIA's reading room publishes thousands of pages of UFO-related records.

On the UAP Timeline

• Hillenkoetter MJ-12 memo of 19 September 1947 (19 September 1947) — A disputed memo attributed to CIA Director Hillenkoetter calls for a presidential directive and scientific study of the discs.
• Hillenkoetter letter of 24 September 1947 (24 September 1947) — A letter attributed to the CIA director allegedly names Air Force and Navy intelligence units as leads on recovered objects.
• Truman's oral UFO briefings (1948) — President Truman reportedly asks for spoken-only quarterly briefings on UAP research, with no records kept.
• Alleged CIA report on recovered disc technology (1949) (17 August 1949) — An alleged CIA report names a secret Defense Department program for exploiting recovered disc technology.
• Henry J. Taylor secret-weapon broadcast (1950) (27 March 1950) — A broadcaster announces saucers are secret U.S. weapons; the story is later called CIA disinformation.
• Dewey Fournet's motion study and Navy inquiry (1951) — A Blue Book officer reportedly runs a private, Navy-assisted inquiry into undersea and aerial UAP.
• Project Moonstruck brain-stimulation claim (1952) — An alleged CIA project is said to study long-range brain stimulation by radio frequencies.
• Submarine encounters study (1952) (24 April 1952) — Air Force and Navy intelligence study nine undersea UAP encounters reported by U.S. submarines.
• CIA–MIT talks on UFO study (1952) (2 December 1952) — A CIA science chief meets MIT leaders about studying UAP through Project Lincoln.
• Ruppelt held back before the Robertson Panel (9 December 1952) — An Air Force colonel stops Blue Book's Edward Ruppelt from sharing strong cases with the CIA before the Robertson Panel.
• Pentacle memo (9 January 1953) — A Battelle scientist suggests using Project Stork to reassure the public that everything is under control.
• Robertson Panel (18 January 1953) — The CIA's Robertson Panel recommends stripping UAP of special status and reducing public interest.
• Albert Chop and the Tremonton film release (9 February 1953) — Air Force spokesman Albert Chop claims the CIA killed a press release and ordered a debunking campaign.
• CIA memo on Civilian Saucer Investigation (9 February 1953) — A CIA officer admits monitoring a public UAP meeting in Los Angeles.
• NSC 5412 Special Group (28 December 1954) — A secret National Security Council group is formed to coordinate covert operations.
• Senator Russell's Soviet sighting (1955) (15 October 1955) — Sen. Richard Russell sees two discs in the Soviet Union; the CIA classifies the case.
• NICAP fed a fake crash story (1957) (May 1957) — Civilian group NICAP is fed a fake UAP crash story by a source with NSA ties.
• Mach 3 radar target alert (1957) (24 September 1957) — The Air Force intelligence chief warns of a radar target crossing the U.S. at Mach 3.
• John Lilly and the alleged hypnosis project (1958) — An alleged Air Force project used drugs and hypnosis; one participant believed he contacted aliens.
• Hillenkoetter's 1960 call for hearings (22 June 1960) — Former CIA Director Hillenkoetter tells a newspaper UFOs are under intelligent control.
• Kennedy MJ-12 memo of June 1961 (28 June 1961) — An alleged Kennedy memo asks the CIA to review 'MJ-12' operations.
• Gun-camera films sent to the CIA claim (1962) — Researcher Richard Hall says jet gun-camera UAP films were routinely sent to the CIA.
• Big Sur UFO film (September 1964) — An officer says he studied film of a UAP downing a test warhead over the Pacific; the CIA took it.
• Lyndon Johnson's informal UFO study (1968) — A study for President Johnson reportedly says UAP are real and under intelligent control.
• Ingo Swann's magnetometer test (1972) (June 1972) — Ingo Swann's remote-viewing test with SRI leads to a CIA contract months later.
• Secret project asks about remote viewing (1973) (27 October 1973) — Puthoff tells Vallée a secret UAP project with an official charter asked about remote viewing.
• Livermore scientists' paranormal experiences (1974) — Kit Green says he worked with scientists who reported orbs and entities in their homes.
• Vallée meets Kit Green (1974) (11 February 1974) — Vallée meets Kit Green, who describes officials interested in UAP.
• Twelve officials to study UFOs (1974) (2 June 1974) — Puthoff relays that 12 senior officials have decided to focus on UAP study.
• Vallée's doubts about Kit Green (1974) (16 June 1974) — Vallée wonders whether his UAP talks with Kit Green are a CIA cover story.
• Midwest engineers group claim (1974) (10 December 1974) — Kit Green tells Vallée 15 engineers in the Midwest secretly research UAP for the CIA.
• CIA Domestic Collection Division memo (1976) (26 April 1976) — A CIA teletype says agency staff monitor UAP unofficially.
• Project Windfall claim (1978) — John Keel says the CIA ran Project Windfall, an investigation of UAP contactees.
• McDonnell Douglas close-encounter database (1978) (5 January 1978) — A McDonnell Douglas engineer tells Vallée of a well-funded secret UAP project.
• State Department "no records" reply (1978) (19 January 1978) — The State Department says it has no UAP records; a requester sends it one of its own documents.
• McDonnell Douglas caller to Vallée (1978) (8 June 1978) — A McDonnell Douglas caller tells Vallée a secret UAP project is monitored by the CIA.
• CAUS lawsuit and the CIA UFO papers (15 December 1978) — Researchers claim the CIA ran secret emergency UAP studies during sighting waves.
• Claims of CIA funding of UFO researchers (15 December 1978) — The same researchers claim the CIA secretly funded selected UAP researchers.
• Hynek on the Robertson Panel's legacy (1979) — Hynek says the Robertson Panel set an unwritten Air Force rule to play UAP down.
• Dale Graff and Wright-Patterson remote viewing (1979) — Dale Graff is said to have run a remote viewing program at Wright-Patterson, then moved to the DIA.
• Victor Marchetti's Second Look article (May 1979) — Former CIA official Victor Marchetti writes that the government is hiding alien contact.
• Doty's psychological operations claim (1980s) — Doty says an Air Force unit ran psychological operations on people who saw secret aircraft.
• Air Force colonel harassed over a UFO group (1982) (1982) — An Air Force colonel says he was harassed after founding a UFO group.
• Kit Green's Air Force physician source (1982) — Kit Green says a retired Air Force physician told him crash recovery stories are true.
• Ground Saucer Watch and the State Department (1982) (25 February 1982) — A civilian FOIA group gets no answer from the State Department about UAP records.
• Pat Price's alien base reports (July 1982) — The Army's remote viewing chief finds 1973 reports of claimed underground UAP bases.
• Montauk Phoenix and Rainbow claims (1983) — Alleged Montauk projects reportedly used radio and microwaves in mind experiments.
• Saucer-like helicopters claim (1984) (11 March 1984) — Kit Green tells Vallée some military helicopters were designed to look like flying saucers.
• 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.
• Groom Range land withdrawal (1984) (7 August 1984) — The Air Force admits it restricted public access to land near Area 51 without legal authority.
• Advanced Theoretical Physics group (20 May 1985) — A secure facility hosts a conference on whether UAP evidence supports a research program.
• Bruce Maccabee's CIA talk (1987) (7 July 1987) — Navy physicist Bruce Maccabee says he lectured about UAP at CIA headquarters.
• John Lear's ParaNet statement (1987) (29 December 1987) — Pilot John Lear claims the government has worked with gray aliens since the 1960s.
• Kit Green on MJ-12 (1988) (23 October 1988) — Kit Green tells Vallée that 'MJ12' was real.
• Oechsler–Inman phone call (October 1989) — A NASA mission specialist meets a retired admiral about a group said to manage UAP information.
• Steven Greer's 1990s private meetings (Mid-1990s) — Steven Greer alleges he met wealthy and connected figures at a private San Francisco gathering about UAP.
• Naval Research Laboratory parapsychology claim (21 February 1990) — A journalist claims the Naval Research Laboratory had a parapsychology unit.
• Stubblebine's Mars lecture (1992) (22 May 1992) — Gen. Albert Stubblebine allegedly claims there are structures beneath the surface of Mars.
• Rockefeller Initiative (15 April 1993) — White House science office papers show CIA interest in a UAP researcher's work.
• Arthur Lundahl and presidential briefings (1994) — Researcher Grant Cameron says the CIA's Arthur Lundahl may have briefed presidents on UAP.

…and 30 more.

References