Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, Report, 1952-1953
- Date
- 17 Jan 1953
- Record
- Pentagon file
- Assessment
- Not assessed
- Evidence strength
What was reported
The full record of the CIA-convened Robertson Panel (Jan 14-18, 1953): the panel's report and conclusions, the Frederick Durant meeting-minutes report (the fuller 'Durant Report'), the list of documentary evidence reviewed, personnel, and cover correspondence routing the report to Defense, the Federal Civil Defense Administration, and the White House. The panel concluded UFOs show no evidence of a direct threat to national security or of foreign/extraterrestrial artifacts, but recommended an active 'debunking' and public-education campaign to reduce the burden UFO reports placed on defense communication channels. It reviewed the Tremonton, Utah film in detail and rejected the Navy photo-interpretation lab's 'birds' explanation on several technical grounds while still not accepting the sighting as anomalous.
What officials concluded
Resolved
The panel concluded there is no residuum of cases indicating foreign artifacts capable of hostile acts and no evidence requiring revision of scientific concepts; the primary danger identified was the clogging of communication channels by…
- Agency
- CIA
- Released in
- 123456
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- Yes: Radar
- No: Video
- Yes: Photo
- Yes: 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 This is a policy and evidence-review document, not itself an observation; its own conclusion is that no case in its sample indicates a direct threat or an artifact of unknown origin, though it documents internal disagreement over specific cases (e.g., Tremonton).
As described in the file
- Witnesses
- None directly; panel reviewed ~75 selected case histories plus additional sightings including Tremonton, Great Falls, Belletonaine, Washington D.C. (1952), Haneda AFB Japan, Fort Huron MI, Presque Isle ME
- Sensors
- Radar, visual, photographic (Kodachrome film)
Pentagon files
CIA-UAP-002, Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, Report, 1952-1953
Open the original on war.gov
What the file claims
- Unverified
The panel recommended national security agencies strip UFOs of their special status and 'mystery' and institute training and public-education 'debunking' policies.
- Unverified
Panel member Fournet, using his Blue Book project-officer background, argued he had eliminated all known/probable causes for some sightings, leaving only extraterrestrial origin, but the panel rejected using his raw, unevaluated reports.
- Unverified
The Navy Photo Interpretation Laboratory concluded the Tremonton, Utah film objects were not birds, balloons, or aircraft and were self-luminous, but the panel rejected this conclusion on multiple technical grounds.