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354 Suppressed Inventions and Other Discoveries
"There are things out there. There absolutely is!"
"Two years ago," a NASA scientist said in 1967, "most of us regarded
UFOs as a branch of witchcraft, one of the foibles of modern man. But so
many reputable people have expressed interest in confidence to NASA,
that I would not be in the least surprised to see the space agency begin
work on a UFO study contract within the next twelve months."
One of those who expressed interest was Dr. Allen Hynek, who wanted
NASA to use its superlative space-tracking network to monitor and
document the entry of unidentified objects into the Earth's atmosphere.
The problem then—as now—is that UFO sightings tracked by NASA
remain exempt from public disclosure since they are classified top secret.
But there have been leaks.
In April 1964 two radar technicians at Cape Kennedy revealed that they
had observed UFOs in pursuit of an unmanned Gemini space capsule. And
in January 1961 it was reliably reported that the Cape's automatic tracking
gear locked on to a mysterious object which was apparently following
a Polaris missile over the South Atlantic.
A 1967 NASA Management Instruction established procedures for handling
reports of sightings of objects such as "fragments or component
parts of space vehicles known or alleged by an observer to have impacted
upon the earth's surface as a result of safety destruct action, failure in
flight, or re-entry into the earth's atmosphere," and also includes "reports
of sightings of objects not related to space vehicles." A rather euphemistic
way of putting it, to be sure, but the internal instruction continues: "It is
KSC [Kennedy Space Center] policy to respond to reported sightings of
space vehicle fragments and unidentified flying objects as promptly as
possible. . . . Under no circumstances will the origin of the object be discussed
with the observer or person making the call.'' [Emphasis added.]
A 1978 NASA information sheet gives the agency's official policy on
the subject:
NASA is the focal point for answering public enquiries to the White
House relating to UFOs. NASA is not engaged in a research program
involving these phenomena, nor is any other government agency. Reports
of unidentified objects entering United States air space are of interest to
the military as a regular part of defense surveillance. Beyond that, the
U.S. Air Force no longer investigates reports of UFO sightings.
In 1978 CAUS (Citizens Against UFO Secrecy) filed a request for
information relating to a NASA report entitled UFO Study Considerations,
which had previously been prepared in association with the CIA. In
his response, Miles Waggoner of NASA's Public Information Services
Branch denied this. "There were no formal meetings or any correspon-