The Office of Scientific Intelligence 1949-68 (Vol - The Black Vault

support.
The number of consultants gradually in-
creased until by the mid-fifties a sizeable group
of eminent U.S. scientists had an informal, if
not formal, connection with OSI.
Perhaps the most dramatic example of consultantship
was the formation of a group known as the
Boston Scientific Advisory Panel (BSAP) . Late in
1950, one of OSI's consultants in the Boston area
y i p r o p o s e d
to Chadwell that a
group of cleared and knowledgeable scientists in
that area be banded together to form a "Boston Cell".
According to him, these men shared a concern about
the inadequacies of U. S. scientific intelligence and
would be willing to serve their country in support
of OSI. The offer was accepted and in early 1951
BSAP began to meet at intervals with Chadwell and
his top people.1
I I During
the first few years all BSAP members were given consultant
status and BSAP itself served a useful
function in evaluating information and acting as a
sounding board for OS1 finished intelligence output.
In time, however, a number of influences began
to work against the BSAP operation.
Its members were
of course much in demand in Washington and elsewhere
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1 .