Air Force proposals to improve UFO work (1961)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 9
| Date | 17 March 1961 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Government programs (topic), Congress & law (topic) |
| People | J. Allen Hynek |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 64 |
| Year | 1961 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1961 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 7 |
Air Force intelligence papers from 1960–61, held in the archive of the Swedish group AFU, show how the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) responded when a House committee staffer asked it to strengthen its UFO investigations. The proposals included one extra officer, more of astronomer J. Allen Hynek's time, travel money, and a Polaroid camera and Geiger counter.[1]
The congressional briefings
According to the papers, the Air Force briefed congressional staff on its UFO program in summer 1958 and again on 15 July 1960, the second time for members of the House Armed Services and Space committees, the CIA and the Secretary of the Air Force's office. At the 1960 briefing Robert Smart of the House Armed Services Committee staff said the Air Force's investigative capability was limited and that ATIC should itself investigate cases with special significance. He asked to be kept informed and to receive summaries of significant cases. A wave of sightings around Red Bluff, California, in August 1960 later brought the issue back to his attention.[1]
ATIC's resources
A staff paper prepared after a December 1960 meeting described the program's resources. ATIC's Aerial Phenomena Group consisted of one officer and one non-commissioned officer. ATIC could also draw on other agencies, including NASA, the FBI and the Bureau of Standards, and on records such as missile firing schedules and balloon releases. Hynek, head of astronomy at Northwestern University, served as scientific consultant at a cost of $3,000 a year.[1]
The proposals
To meet Smart's wishes, the paper said, ATIC would need one more officer, an increase in Hynek's services at an estimated extra $1,000 a year, $3,000 a year in extra travel funds, and a Polaroid camera and Geiger counter for field investigation. It said the proposed increase in scope could be achieved only with these added resources.[1]
The outcome
A cover memo dated 17 March 1961, signed by Col. Philip G. Evans, said all the recommendations had been carried out except the extra officer. Instead, ATIC had made a group of four officers with backgrounds in physics, chemistry and electronics available on a priority on-call basis.[1]
Context
NICAP, led by Donald Keyhoe, was then pressing Congress for hearings, which the papers describe as the reason for the briefings. Hynek later became a strong critic of the Air Force's handling of UFO reports.[1][2]
People and topics
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- J. Allen Hynek — Astronomer and Air Force UFO consultant from 1948 to 1969 who later founded the Center for UFO Studies.
- NICAP — The leading U.S. civilian UFO group of the 1950s and 1960s.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Project Blue Book — The Air Force's public UFO investigation from 1952 until its closure in December 1969.
On the Timeline
- John McCormack's doubts about the Air Force (1961) (16 February 1961) — House leader John McCormack says the Air Force isn't sharing all it knows about UFOs.
- Kennedy MJ-12 memo of June 1961 (28 June 1961) — An alleged Kennedy memo asks the CIA to review 'MJ-12' operations.
See every 1961 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Air Force congressional briefing papers and ATIC memoranda, 1960–61, AFU archive (PDF) · files.afu.se · archived copy
- J. Allen Hynek — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- The Roush hearings (Congress and UFOs) — Project 1947 · project1947.com · archived copy
- 'Congress is being pressed for flying saucer probe' (1961) — CIA Reading Room · cia.gov · archived copy
- Blue Book 1961 congressional correspondence — UFO Scans · ufoscans.com · archived copy
- UFOs in Congress in the 1960s — Podcast UFO · podcastufo.com · archived copy
- files.afu.se · files.afu.se · archived copy
Further reading
- J. Allen Hynek — 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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