65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_009
- Date
- Date unknown
- Record
- Pentagon file
- Assessment
- Not assessed
- Evidence strength
What was reported
Correspondence section of the same 62-HQ-83894 file, dominated by FBI Headquarters' handling of Major Donald E. Keyhoe and his National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). A September 1958 internal memo instructs that Keyhoe's pointed written questions (e.g. whether agents told witnesses not to discuss sightings) be answered 'in a very general way' to avoid engaging him further, after describing him internally as a writer whose material the Bureau has 'found from previous experience' to be 'irresponsible.' Also includes a July 1958 Aerial Phenomena Research Group (Seattle) press release concluding, from ~5,000 accounts, that UFOs are likely extraterrestrial craft, plus form-letter public appeals for witness reports and unremarkable citizen mail (including one asking if the FBI could confirm a magazine photo of agents with a tiny alien).
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
internal Bureau policy was to give Keyhoe evasive, general answers rather than substantive ones
- Agency
- FBI
- Released in
- 123456
Evidence profile
- No: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- No: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- Yes: Other
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Why this rating No first-hand sighting is reported or investigated in this section; it is institutional correspondence, public-relations handling of NICAP, and unverified advocacy-group claims with no case-level evidence attached.
As described in the file
- Witnesses
- No first-hand FBI-investigated sighting witness in the sampled pages; this section is institutional correspondence and public mail
Pentagon files
65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_009
Open the original on war.gov
What the file claims
- Unverified
FBI Headquarters internally judged Keyhoe's prior writing 'irresponsible' and decided not to engage him substantively.
- Unverified
The Aerial Phenomena Research Group concluded most of ~5,000 examined UFO accounts represent 'technological developments outside the range of present-day scientific knowledge.'