Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Jul 26, 2019 12:58:06 GMT 2
(.#263).- The Black Program - The Blue Book Project.
The Black Program - The Blue Book Project.
1st of February 2017.
The project that succeeded the Grudge project for the study of UFOs.
Following several radar and hunter encounters with UFOs, which took place on September 10, 1951, near Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, which worried the Air Force; General Cabell, commander of the US Air Force intelligence, then organized a meeting to take stock of UFO investigations.
Cabell, who had already complained, since Harold E. Watson was appointed head of the ATIC, "Air Technical Intelligence Center," in July 1949, once again had the opportunity to show his dissatisfaction. At the meeting, several things were unveiled. It turns out that Watson had voluntarily and constantly downplayed the importance of sighting reports (1).
It can be said that Watson and James Rodgers, the Grudge Project Leader, took their ranks. Cabell reorganized the posts so that he could count on officers who would treat the subject seriously. Watson will be replaced at ATIC by Colonel Franck Dunn and Major Jerry Boggs, then stationed at the Pentagon as well.
The creation of a new program
Then Cabell ordered ATIC to seriously resume the investigation and create a new project, to succeed the Grudge project.
And it was nicknamed provisionally, "New Grudge Project" and will be officially established on October 27, 1951. In fact the work previously done by the Grudge project, which will be taken over by the new team, will keep its name on the reports, even until the definitive name of "Blue Book" in 1952 ("Project Blue Book formerly Project Grudge" title report No. 5). And only the internal coding number for the army will change and it will take the project number 10073 (the first Grudge project completed in August 1949 had the number XS-304).
Dunn, before his departure, transmitted his load to Rosengarten, who quickly got rid of it by transmitting it to Cumming. When Cumming left the Air Force for an assignment at the California Institute of Technology on September 16, he appointed Lieutenants Edward J. Ruppelt and Henry Metsher (who had worked with him on several cases, including the of Lubbock "in Texas), to handle UFO investigations.
Ruppelt had served during the Second World War, as a B-29 bomber pilot in the Pacific (with good service he will receive two "Distinguished Flying Cross"). After his demobilization, he studied at Iowa State College where he obtained an engineering degree in aeronautics. Recalled in the 1950s because of the Korean War, he found himself at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Despite his qualities, the choice of such a young officer (Ruppelt is 28 years old), who is not a regular soldier and who is not a senior officer, and quite surprising, given the importance of the project . But of course, unless this choice is clearly wanted.
Until the end of 1951, the group will be composed only of these two lieutenants.
In March 1952, a full-time study group was set up by ATIC, and referred to as the "Aerial Phenomena Group". In June, the group became a service of the ATIC proper, and meanwhile it will receive its final name of "Project Blue Book". In the process, Ruppelt will be promoted captain and appointed to head the program.
Ruppelt's first concern, that of improving the investigation work.
Ruppelt took his new job very seriously, and having already worked the previous year on the UFO phenomenon, he knew what was wrong and what needed to be improved. One of the first measures will be to surround himself with a competent staff (he did not hesitate to separate from the people who neglected their work, because they considered the UFO phenomenon uninteresting).
He obtained that Dr. Hynek, already a consultant in astronomy with the Air Force, become the scientific consultant of the project Blue Book.
Then he will use the Stork project to develop a new and better adapted questionnaire template for witnesses. And also to have the establishment of a standardization of procedures, in order to work more efficiently and quickly. (2)
Another innovation will be to conduct regular briefings for Air Force and Defense superiors.
Following a suggestion by General Cabell, he will install cameras on air bases, which were not equipped and the installation of thirty new radars, distributed throughout the country. For this purpose he wanted to equip the lenses of the cameras with new special diffraction filters, which had been developed from the work of physicist Joseph Kaplan of the University of California. Who would be able to capture the color spectrum of an object, to be able to compare it to that of a known existing thing (an airplane, a meteor, stars ...). To improve the identification work.
It was also Ruppelt who generalized the use of the term "UFO", "Unidentified Flying Object", "Unidentified flying objects". Whereas before, in many reports and internal mails, the terms "saucers", "disks", or "lights" were commonly used.
Investigations begin
From 1952, reports began to flow. Ruppelt attended a briefing with Colonel Dunn and Major General John A. Samford, the new Air Force Intelligence Director (Cabell was appointed deputy director of the CIA). The latter already seemed very familiar with the subject UFO. He appointed Brigadier General W. M. Garland to act as liaison between ATIC and Blue Book. Ruppelt learned that Garland had once seen a UFO while stationed in Sacramento, California. From that moment, the direct superior of Ruppelt will be General Garland.
During the summer of 1952, the largest wave of UFOs ever will occur.
And the overnight UFO overflights of the White House prompted President Truman to request a CIA intervention, consulting with a new panel of consultants hired by the intelligence agency, called the "Robertson Panel". (Formerly known as the UFO Scientific Advisory Panel) in January 1953. This panel will send its findings and recommendations to the Secretary of Defense, the director of the FCDA (the Federal Civil Defense Administration). , to the director of the National Ressouce Board and Cabell to the CIA. But not at Ruppelt, nor at his superior General Garland. They will only be informed later at a CIA meeting. In fact, they will be lying to Robertson's actual recommendations by telling them that he recommended extending Blue Book's capabilities and downgrading all files. (3)
Following this meeting, Ruppelt will seek even more resources for the Blue Book project. It will include the recruitment of additional personnel, the final implementation of camera surveillance and the release of a press release to the Air Force Press Service to provide the public with more transparency in the Army's policy. from the air, about UFOs. But Ruppelt will soon realize that the policy of the armed forces remains the same.
The consequences of the Robertson panel conclusions
The Air Force will rewrite the regulation "AFR 200-2", "Air Force Regulation 200-2", which will be sent to all air force bases. He said among other things, that only the 4602d AISS (4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron) is authorized to do research, unless there is another ISSA unit in the vicinity. And that the base commander should now send him all the reports, or to another ISSA unit, closer to the base, if necessary.
Prohibition of making public statements about apparitions except through Blue Book, unless the observation has been identified.
In February 1958, Rule 200-2 will be amended for the fifth time. It was added that "the Air Force must reduce the number of unidentified sightings to a minimum". The result will not be long in 1952: 303 unidentified cases; in 1953: only 42; and in 1966: 12!
This regulation only reinforced JANAP-146, Joint Army-Navy-Air Publication No. 146, of 1952, which stated that "to disclose some information about a few unidentified cases" was a "A crime punishable by ten years' imprisonment and a $ 10,000 fine". Of course, to avoid military talking to reporters.
The beginning of the end for Blue Book
While this seemed to be starting well from 1952, the year 1953 will clearly mark the beginning of a turnaround by the authorities in the means granted to Blue Book.
After Ruppelt took an advanced intelligence course at the Lowry Air Force Base from April 7 to July 3, 1953, the project will then be assigned a new assignment with a temporary transfer to deal with the problem. other tasks in Denver, which had nothing to do with UFOs. And at the end of the Korean War in 1953, Ruppelt will be removed from his Blue Book project, but will continue to be part of the program.
Subsequently, Ruppelt will be replaced at the head of the project by Lieutenant Bob Olsson. Blue Book will continue its work in 1954 quite normally, but the increase of staff and the provision of new means will never happen.
Ruppelt will still try to get things done, suggesting the use of other intelligence units for field investigations. This will result in the use of 4602d AISS, Air Intelligence Service Squadron, a unit of Air Defense Command, with 19 teams scattered throughout the country, which will be officially assigned this work. (4)
In August 1953, upon the departure of Ruppelt and his two assistants, Blue Book will consist of only ten persons. It will be no more than a simple filing of files and will serve as a media façade, for public relations of the Air Force. And during the year 1953, for a short time, Blue Book will not even be led by an officer, but by a first class soldier, the "A1 / C", "Airman 1st Class", Max Futch (very competent after all, and appreciated by Ruppelt, after his replacement at Blue Book, he will leave the army to enter a law school). (5)
But private organizations will also be affected. In November 1953, "by order of a higher authority", the dissolution of IFSB, "International Flying Saucer Bureau", with the ban of appearing for its magazine "Space Review" (because it gave too much details to the public). And it will be the same for the CSI, "Civilian Saucer Investigation".
In March 1954, Captain Charles Hardin took control of Blue Book, which at that time had fallen to two people.
Captain Charles Hardin.
With these meager resources, and no longer in charge of investigations, Hardin will be given the task of centralizing inquiries from the public and ensuring the proper implementation of the Robertson Panel's recommendations.
During this period, the explanations of the observations being voluntarily oriented for a completely natural explanation, the rate of "unexplained" reports, will fall from 60% in 1954, to 5.9% in 1955, to 0.4% in 1956. Paradoxically, while the rates of unexplained observations will decrease in the numbers, the observations will continue to occur in large numbers. With a high rate of "unexplained", when we know the real numbers of the work of analysis of the phenomenon.
In 1956, it will be the captain George T. Gregory who will later take over as manager of Blue Book.
From then on, the reports processed by the project will be carelessly and in spite of common sense. For example, all reports from Canada will be classified as "insufficient data" and reports from overseas bases are rarely ranked seriously.
In October 1958, Major Robert Friend will replace Major Gregory.
The new manager, despite his lack of illusion, will still try to do something. Fear that the reports will be lost, he will propose to microfilm the reports. Which will not be refused, but the funds to finance this work will never be granted. Nevertheless, he manages to hold monthly meetings with an unofficial group of scientists, of which Hynek will be a part. These informal meetings will last until the end of 1960. Among the scientists there were: the astronomer L.V. Robinson, public relations expert Théodore J. Hieatt, chaplain Captain R. Pritz, physicist V.J. Handmacher and psychologist D. Leroy Pigg.
In 1961, ATIC will seek to get rid of official UFO investigation programs and public communications work, by transferring this charge to NASA or the National Science Foundation. But that will not happen.
The year 1963 will see the arrival of Major Hector Quintanilla.
The latter will always emphasize the "public relation" aspect of the project, to the detriment of the interest of field surveys. He will be the last person in charge of the project, until his dissolution.
And this will be the occasion of a scandal in 1966. Dr. James E. McDonald, a physicist, had always been interested in the Air Force news. Out of curiosity, thanks to his status as a researcher, he will make numerous visits to the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where he will be able to study numerous reports. But when he asks for a photocopy of the Robertson report, the CIA will be alerted, terminate his authorization and rush to reclassify the report, "secret." But Dr. MacDonald, who had taken a lot of notes, already knew enough. And when in his annual report, Major Quantanilla, declared: "Only 30 of the cases submitted to the Air Force last year are" unexplained "and only 676 of the 11,107 sightings reported since 1947 fall into this category ... ... There is no evidence that UFOs still "unexplained" represent technological creations or principles situated above our current scientific knowledge.
Dr. James E. McDonald will answer in The Flying Saucer News: "My review of the Blue Book archives left me with the impression that there are 5 to 10 times more unexplained cases than indicated ... The public, the Congress and the scientists are misled ... I have never seen so much superficiality and incompetence in an area of such tremendous scientific importance ... A large body of evidence, collected over the last twenty years, lead many researchers to believe that UFOs are extraterrestrial ".
This will be a real outcry among the population. The words of Dr. James E. McDonald will be picked up by all newspapers, he will even give lectures all over the country and his interviews will be broadcast on radio and television. Subsequently, the Air Force will experience a severe press campaign against him.
From 1966, the ATIC will be excluded from all investigations. While until then, since the late forties, the ATIC had always dealt with UFO appearances, on September 19, 1966, a new regulation will replace the "AFR 200-2". The "AFR 80-17" on "Research and Development - Unidentified Flying Objects" will transfer the work of investigation, intelligence gathering, preparation and reporting to that of "Research and Development". With analysis of reports by the "Foreign Technology Division", the "Foreign Technologies Section".
The coup de grace for the Blue Book project will occur on December 17, 1969, when after reading the report of the commission chaired by Dr. Condon, the new Secretary of Defense Robert C. Seamans Jr. will announce the termination the Blue Book project, which will actually occur on January 30, 1970, and all the implications of the Air Force in UFO investigations. The official rationale will be that "UFOs did not pose a threat to national security and had no scientific value for a study". From this moment on, officially, the US Air Force no longer investigates UFOs. (6)
The quantified budget of the Blue Book Project
The final report excluded many "unexplained" cases. Dr. Hynek, still a consultant for the Air Force, will seek after the end of the program, to do exactly the sorting, to count the exact number of "non-identifiable" cases, taking all cases since 1947 (Blue Book having taken over the reports of the Grudge project and the Sign project, in its investigative work, the observations that occurred before Blue Book, were therefore known).
A recaputalative of programs and dates :
- Project HT-304: CMA's initial UFO study project, will not receive a project name and
will be known by its internal coding "Project HT-304" (nicknamed Project 1947) . From
June 30, 1947 to January 26, 1948;
- Project SIGN: from January 26, 1948 to February 11, 1949;
- Project GRUDGE: from February 12, 1949 to August 10, 1949;
- Period where GRUDGE is "put to sleep": from August 10, 1949 to July 7, 1950
(the project started in February 1949 having been deactivated but not deleted);
- Reactivation period of GRUDGE: from 7 July 1950 to 22 October 1951;
- NEW GRUDGE Project: from October 22, 1951 to March 25, 1952;
- Project BLUE BOOK: from March 25, 1952 to January 30, 1970.
And it must be borne in mind that the majority of reports concern only close observations which are called the first (simple observation) or the second type (landing and / or contact between the object and the witness or the environment).
Strangely, while there were many encounters of the third type (remote observation or actual encounters with entities) between 1947 and 1969, there are only twelve reports on cases of UFO occupant sightings, most of which they will simply get rid of by giving them the words "insufficient data".
While the total number of close encounters of the third type in the United States, which will be established thereafter, will count sixty-five (it is clear that the most sensitive reports, whatever they are, did not arrive at Blue Book). And Hynek, for his part, will say that as an Air Force adviser, he will be asked to investigate only two cases: that of Socorro (New Mexico) and that of Dexter (Michigan).
Regarding these meetings of the third type, Jacques Vallée will establish that there have been over a period of twenty two years, worldwide, nearly 750 landings of machines, of which more than 300 of them will report humanoids, seen in the craft or nearby.
It is also necessary to repeat cases that were deliberately excluded during the investigations and which were not necessarily reports. Hynek will make a file, consisting only of unexplained cases. This work will be continued for many years by several researchers and investigators. Of the 13,134 observations reported to the Air Force since 1947, the total number of 1635 "unidentified" cases has been reported. While, officially, Blue Book will have indexed only 701 and that 10,675 cases will receive the mention "insufficient data". (7)
Ruppelt, returned to civilian life will work in the aviation industry and write a book ("The report on Unidentified Flying Object", for the American edition, published in 1956) in which he thought he could learn a lot to the public, but the manuscript must first be seen by the Air Force, which will censor several embarrassing information before publication (they will even control foreign editions). His book will be reissued in 1959, with three new chapters (which will only resume the "official line" of the Air Force).
In the preface to his book Ruppelt wrote :
"What constitutes the proof? ... ... Is it a proof when a ground radar station detects a UFO, sends a jet plane to intercept it, when the pilot sees it, takes it in his radar, to see it just spinning at a phenomenal speed? Is this evidence when a pilot pulls on a UFO and persists in his assertions even under the threat of court martial? Is this proof? ". (8)
Ruppelt died of a heart attack on September 15, 1960.
Notes :
(1) For more information, see "The Black Program: The Grudge Project".
(2) For more information, see "The Black Program: The Stork Project".
(3) The Robertson panel report will only be declassified in 1966.
(4) In fact, the 4602d ISSA is already dealing with the most sensitive investigations since 1953. And Ruppelt, with the exact content of the Robertson panel that had been hidden from him, will never know about it. For more information, see "The Black Program: The Moon Dust Project".
(5) But while the role and resources of Blue Book are melting like snow in the sun, the authorities do not neglect Ruppelt's recommendations. On 1 December 1953, the US Air Force will install spectroscopic cameras in seventy-five of its airbases around the world, to photograph possible UFOs and to be able to analyze their light spectrum with special diffraction filters (revealed at the time by the New York Herald Tribune).
(6) For more information see "The Black Program: The Colorado Project".
(7) To see Blue Book's final report (Reports 1-12), June 1968, "Projects Grudge & Blue Book Report, 1-12", click on the link link. To see the special report n ° 14, which was intended for the public, click on the link link. To view Blue Book reports from ships at sea, click on the link link. To see the list of the 1635 "unidentified" observations, click on the link link.
(8) To see the Ruppelt book, click on the link link.
Sources :
« Le livre noir des soucoupes volantes », par Henry Durant, Editions Robert Laffont;
« Les soucoupes volantes, affaires sérieuses », par Frank Edwards, Editions Robert Laffont;
« Les objets volants non identifiés – Mythe ou réalité ? », par J Allen Hynek, Editions J’ai Lu;
« Nouveau rapport sur les O.V.N.I. », par J Allen Hynek, Editions J’ai Lu;
« The report on Unidentified Flying Object », par Edward J. Ruppelt, Editions Doubleday & Company Inc.
actualitedelhistoire.over-blog.com/
The Blue Book project archives are finally fully available.
www.elishean.fr/
Copyright les Hathor © Elishean/2009-2017/ Elishean mag
F I N .
The Black Program - The Blue Book Project.
1st of February 2017.
The project that succeeded the Grudge project for the study of UFOs.
Following several radar and hunter encounters with UFOs, which took place on September 10, 1951, near Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, which worried the Air Force; General Cabell, commander of the US Air Force intelligence, then organized a meeting to take stock of UFO investigations.
Cabell, who had already complained, since Harold E. Watson was appointed head of the ATIC, "Air Technical Intelligence Center," in July 1949, once again had the opportunity to show his dissatisfaction. At the meeting, several things were unveiled. It turns out that Watson had voluntarily and constantly downplayed the importance of sighting reports (1).
It can be said that Watson and James Rodgers, the Grudge Project Leader, took their ranks. Cabell reorganized the posts so that he could count on officers who would treat the subject seriously. Watson will be replaced at ATIC by Colonel Franck Dunn and Major Jerry Boggs, then stationed at the Pentagon as well.
The creation of a new program
Then Cabell ordered ATIC to seriously resume the investigation and create a new project, to succeed the Grudge project.
And it was nicknamed provisionally, "New Grudge Project" and will be officially established on October 27, 1951. In fact the work previously done by the Grudge project, which will be taken over by the new team, will keep its name on the reports, even until the definitive name of "Blue Book" in 1952 ("Project Blue Book formerly Project Grudge" title report No. 5). And only the internal coding number for the army will change and it will take the project number 10073 (the first Grudge project completed in August 1949 had the number XS-304).
Dunn, before his departure, transmitted his load to Rosengarten, who quickly got rid of it by transmitting it to Cumming. When Cumming left the Air Force for an assignment at the California Institute of Technology on September 16, he appointed Lieutenants Edward J. Ruppelt and Henry Metsher (who had worked with him on several cases, including the of Lubbock "in Texas), to handle UFO investigations.
Ruppelt had served during the Second World War, as a B-29 bomber pilot in the Pacific (with good service he will receive two "Distinguished Flying Cross"). After his demobilization, he studied at Iowa State College where he obtained an engineering degree in aeronautics. Recalled in the 1950s because of the Korean War, he found himself at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Despite his qualities, the choice of such a young officer (Ruppelt is 28 years old), who is not a regular soldier and who is not a senior officer, and quite surprising, given the importance of the project . But of course, unless this choice is clearly wanted.
Until the end of 1951, the group will be composed only of these two lieutenants.
In March 1952, a full-time study group was set up by ATIC, and referred to as the "Aerial Phenomena Group". In June, the group became a service of the ATIC proper, and meanwhile it will receive its final name of "Project Blue Book". In the process, Ruppelt will be promoted captain and appointed to head the program.
Ruppelt's first concern, that of improving the investigation work.
Ruppelt took his new job very seriously, and having already worked the previous year on the UFO phenomenon, he knew what was wrong and what needed to be improved. One of the first measures will be to surround himself with a competent staff (he did not hesitate to separate from the people who neglected their work, because they considered the UFO phenomenon uninteresting).
He obtained that Dr. Hynek, already a consultant in astronomy with the Air Force, become the scientific consultant of the project Blue Book.
Then he will use the Stork project to develop a new and better adapted questionnaire template for witnesses. And also to have the establishment of a standardization of procedures, in order to work more efficiently and quickly. (2)
Another innovation will be to conduct regular briefings for Air Force and Defense superiors.
Following a suggestion by General Cabell, he will install cameras on air bases, which were not equipped and the installation of thirty new radars, distributed throughout the country. For this purpose he wanted to equip the lenses of the cameras with new special diffraction filters, which had been developed from the work of physicist Joseph Kaplan of the University of California. Who would be able to capture the color spectrum of an object, to be able to compare it to that of a known existing thing (an airplane, a meteor, stars ...). To improve the identification work.
It was also Ruppelt who generalized the use of the term "UFO", "Unidentified Flying Object", "Unidentified flying objects". Whereas before, in many reports and internal mails, the terms "saucers", "disks", or "lights" were commonly used.
Investigations begin
From 1952, reports began to flow. Ruppelt attended a briefing with Colonel Dunn and Major General John A. Samford, the new Air Force Intelligence Director (Cabell was appointed deputy director of the CIA). The latter already seemed very familiar with the subject UFO. He appointed Brigadier General W. M. Garland to act as liaison between ATIC and Blue Book. Ruppelt learned that Garland had once seen a UFO while stationed in Sacramento, California. From that moment, the direct superior of Ruppelt will be General Garland.
During the summer of 1952, the largest wave of UFOs ever will occur.
And the overnight UFO overflights of the White House prompted President Truman to request a CIA intervention, consulting with a new panel of consultants hired by the intelligence agency, called the "Robertson Panel". (Formerly known as the UFO Scientific Advisory Panel) in January 1953. This panel will send its findings and recommendations to the Secretary of Defense, the director of the FCDA (the Federal Civil Defense Administration). , to the director of the National Ressouce Board and Cabell to the CIA. But not at Ruppelt, nor at his superior General Garland. They will only be informed later at a CIA meeting. In fact, they will be lying to Robertson's actual recommendations by telling them that he recommended extending Blue Book's capabilities and downgrading all files. (3)
Following this meeting, Ruppelt will seek even more resources for the Blue Book project. It will include the recruitment of additional personnel, the final implementation of camera surveillance and the release of a press release to the Air Force Press Service to provide the public with more transparency in the Army's policy. from the air, about UFOs. But Ruppelt will soon realize that the policy of the armed forces remains the same.
The consequences of the Robertson panel conclusions
The Air Force will rewrite the regulation "AFR 200-2", "Air Force Regulation 200-2", which will be sent to all air force bases. He said among other things, that only the 4602d AISS (4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron) is authorized to do research, unless there is another ISSA unit in the vicinity. And that the base commander should now send him all the reports, or to another ISSA unit, closer to the base, if necessary.
Prohibition of making public statements about apparitions except through Blue Book, unless the observation has been identified.
In February 1958, Rule 200-2 will be amended for the fifth time. It was added that "the Air Force must reduce the number of unidentified sightings to a minimum". The result will not be long in 1952: 303 unidentified cases; in 1953: only 42; and in 1966: 12!
This regulation only reinforced JANAP-146, Joint Army-Navy-Air Publication No. 146, of 1952, which stated that "to disclose some information about a few unidentified cases" was a "A crime punishable by ten years' imprisonment and a $ 10,000 fine". Of course, to avoid military talking to reporters.
The beginning of the end for Blue Book
While this seemed to be starting well from 1952, the year 1953 will clearly mark the beginning of a turnaround by the authorities in the means granted to Blue Book.
After Ruppelt took an advanced intelligence course at the Lowry Air Force Base from April 7 to July 3, 1953, the project will then be assigned a new assignment with a temporary transfer to deal with the problem. other tasks in Denver, which had nothing to do with UFOs. And at the end of the Korean War in 1953, Ruppelt will be removed from his Blue Book project, but will continue to be part of the program.
Subsequently, Ruppelt will be replaced at the head of the project by Lieutenant Bob Olsson. Blue Book will continue its work in 1954 quite normally, but the increase of staff and the provision of new means will never happen.
Ruppelt will still try to get things done, suggesting the use of other intelligence units for field investigations. This will result in the use of 4602d AISS, Air Intelligence Service Squadron, a unit of Air Defense Command, with 19 teams scattered throughout the country, which will be officially assigned this work. (4)
In August 1953, upon the departure of Ruppelt and his two assistants, Blue Book will consist of only ten persons. It will be no more than a simple filing of files and will serve as a media façade, for public relations of the Air Force. And during the year 1953, for a short time, Blue Book will not even be led by an officer, but by a first class soldier, the "A1 / C", "Airman 1st Class", Max Futch (very competent after all, and appreciated by Ruppelt, after his replacement at Blue Book, he will leave the army to enter a law school). (5)
But private organizations will also be affected. In November 1953, "by order of a higher authority", the dissolution of IFSB, "International Flying Saucer Bureau", with the ban of appearing for its magazine "Space Review" (because it gave too much details to the public). And it will be the same for the CSI, "Civilian Saucer Investigation".
In March 1954, Captain Charles Hardin took control of Blue Book, which at that time had fallen to two people.
Captain Charles Hardin.
With these meager resources, and no longer in charge of investigations, Hardin will be given the task of centralizing inquiries from the public and ensuring the proper implementation of the Robertson Panel's recommendations.
During this period, the explanations of the observations being voluntarily oriented for a completely natural explanation, the rate of "unexplained" reports, will fall from 60% in 1954, to 5.9% in 1955, to 0.4% in 1956. Paradoxically, while the rates of unexplained observations will decrease in the numbers, the observations will continue to occur in large numbers. With a high rate of "unexplained", when we know the real numbers of the work of analysis of the phenomenon.
In 1956, it will be the captain George T. Gregory who will later take over as manager of Blue Book.
From then on, the reports processed by the project will be carelessly and in spite of common sense. For example, all reports from Canada will be classified as "insufficient data" and reports from overseas bases are rarely ranked seriously.
In October 1958, Major Robert Friend will replace Major Gregory.
The new manager, despite his lack of illusion, will still try to do something. Fear that the reports will be lost, he will propose to microfilm the reports. Which will not be refused, but the funds to finance this work will never be granted. Nevertheless, he manages to hold monthly meetings with an unofficial group of scientists, of which Hynek will be a part. These informal meetings will last until the end of 1960. Among the scientists there were: the astronomer L.V. Robinson, public relations expert Théodore J. Hieatt, chaplain Captain R. Pritz, physicist V.J. Handmacher and psychologist D. Leroy Pigg.
In 1961, ATIC will seek to get rid of official UFO investigation programs and public communications work, by transferring this charge to NASA or the National Science Foundation. But that will not happen.
The year 1963 will see the arrival of Major Hector Quintanilla.
The latter will always emphasize the "public relation" aspect of the project, to the detriment of the interest of field surveys. He will be the last person in charge of the project, until his dissolution.
And this will be the occasion of a scandal in 1966. Dr. James E. McDonald, a physicist, had always been interested in the Air Force news. Out of curiosity, thanks to his status as a researcher, he will make numerous visits to the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where he will be able to study numerous reports. But when he asks for a photocopy of the Robertson report, the CIA will be alerted, terminate his authorization and rush to reclassify the report, "secret." But Dr. MacDonald, who had taken a lot of notes, already knew enough. And when in his annual report, Major Quantanilla, declared: "Only 30 of the cases submitted to the Air Force last year are" unexplained "and only 676 of the 11,107 sightings reported since 1947 fall into this category ... ... There is no evidence that UFOs still "unexplained" represent technological creations or principles situated above our current scientific knowledge.
Dr. James E. McDonald will answer in The Flying Saucer News: "My review of the Blue Book archives left me with the impression that there are 5 to 10 times more unexplained cases than indicated ... The public, the Congress and the scientists are misled ... I have never seen so much superficiality and incompetence in an area of such tremendous scientific importance ... A large body of evidence, collected over the last twenty years, lead many researchers to believe that UFOs are extraterrestrial ".
This will be a real outcry among the population. The words of Dr. James E. McDonald will be picked up by all newspapers, he will even give lectures all over the country and his interviews will be broadcast on radio and television. Subsequently, the Air Force will experience a severe press campaign against him.
From 1966, the ATIC will be excluded from all investigations. While until then, since the late forties, the ATIC had always dealt with UFO appearances, on September 19, 1966, a new regulation will replace the "AFR 200-2". The "AFR 80-17" on "Research and Development - Unidentified Flying Objects" will transfer the work of investigation, intelligence gathering, preparation and reporting to that of "Research and Development". With analysis of reports by the "Foreign Technology Division", the "Foreign Technologies Section".
The coup de grace for the Blue Book project will occur on December 17, 1969, when after reading the report of the commission chaired by Dr. Condon, the new Secretary of Defense Robert C. Seamans Jr. will announce the termination the Blue Book project, which will actually occur on January 30, 1970, and all the implications of the Air Force in UFO investigations. The official rationale will be that "UFOs did not pose a threat to national security and had no scientific value for a study". From this moment on, officially, the US Air Force no longer investigates UFOs. (6)
The quantified budget of the Blue Book Project
The final report excluded many "unexplained" cases. Dr. Hynek, still a consultant for the Air Force, will seek after the end of the program, to do exactly the sorting, to count the exact number of "non-identifiable" cases, taking all cases since 1947 (Blue Book having taken over the reports of the Grudge project and the Sign project, in its investigative work, the observations that occurred before Blue Book, were therefore known).
A recaputalative of programs and dates :
- Project HT-304: CMA's initial UFO study project, will not receive a project name and
will be known by its internal coding "Project HT-304" (nicknamed Project 1947) . From
June 30, 1947 to January 26, 1948;
- Project SIGN: from January 26, 1948 to February 11, 1949;
- Project GRUDGE: from February 12, 1949 to August 10, 1949;
- Period where GRUDGE is "put to sleep": from August 10, 1949 to July 7, 1950
(the project started in February 1949 having been deactivated but not deleted);
- Reactivation period of GRUDGE: from 7 July 1950 to 22 October 1951;
- NEW GRUDGE Project: from October 22, 1951 to March 25, 1952;
- Project BLUE BOOK: from March 25, 1952 to January 30, 1970.
And it must be borne in mind that the majority of reports concern only close observations which are called the first (simple observation) or the second type (landing and / or contact between the object and the witness or the environment).
Strangely, while there were many encounters of the third type (remote observation or actual encounters with entities) between 1947 and 1969, there are only twelve reports on cases of UFO occupant sightings, most of which they will simply get rid of by giving them the words "insufficient data".
While the total number of close encounters of the third type in the United States, which will be established thereafter, will count sixty-five (it is clear that the most sensitive reports, whatever they are, did not arrive at Blue Book). And Hynek, for his part, will say that as an Air Force adviser, he will be asked to investigate only two cases: that of Socorro (New Mexico) and that of Dexter (Michigan).
Regarding these meetings of the third type, Jacques Vallée will establish that there have been over a period of twenty two years, worldwide, nearly 750 landings of machines, of which more than 300 of them will report humanoids, seen in the craft or nearby.
It is also necessary to repeat cases that were deliberately excluded during the investigations and which were not necessarily reports. Hynek will make a file, consisting only of unexplained cases. This work will be continued for many years by several researchers and investigators. Of the 13,134 observations reported to the Air Force since 1947, the total number of 1635 "unidentified" cases has been reported. While, officially, Blue Book will have indexed only 701 and that 10,675 cases will receive the mention "insufficient data". (7)
Ruppelt, returned to civilian life will work in the aviation industry and write a book ("The report on Unidentified Flying Object", for the American edition, published in 1956) in which he thought he could learn a lot to the public, but the manuscript must first be seen by the Air Force, which will censor several embarrassing information before publication (they will even control foreign editions). His book will be reissued in 1959, with three new chapters (which will only resume the "official line" of the Air Force).
In the preface to his book Ruppelt wrote :
"What constitutes the proof? ... ... Is it a proof when a ground radar station detects a UFO, sends a jet plane to intercept it, when the pilot sees it, takes it in his radar, to see it just spinning at a phenomenal speed? Is this evidence when a pilot pulls on a UFO and persists in his assertions even under the threat of court martial? Is this proof? ". (8)
Ruppelt died of a heart attack on September 15, 1960.
Notes :
(1) For more information, see "The Black Program: The Grudge Project".
(2) For more information, see "The Black Program: The Stork Project".
(3) The Robertson panel report will only be declassified in 1966.
(4) In fact, the 4602d ISSA is already dealing with the most sensitive investigations since 1953. And Ruppelt, with the exact content of the Robertson panel that had been hidden from him, will never know about it. For more information, see "The Black Program: The Moon Dust Project".
(5) But while the role and resources of Blue Book are melting like snow in the sun, the authorities do not neglect Ruppelt's recommendations. On 1 December 1953, the US Air Force will install spectroscopic cameras in seventy-five of its airbases around the world, to photograph possible UFOs and to be able to analyze their light spectrum with special diffraction filters (revealed at the time by the New York Herald Tribune).
(6) For more information see "The Black Program: The Colorado Project".
(7) To see Blue Book's final report (Reports 1-12), June 1968, "Projects Grudge & Blue Book Report, 1-12", click on the link link. To see the special report n ° 14, which was intended for the public, click on the link link. To view Blue Book reports from ships at sea, click on the link link. To see the list of the 1635 "unidentified" observations, click on the link link.
(8) To see the Ruppelt book, click on the link link.
Sources :
« Le livre noir des soucoupes volantes », par Henry Durant, Editions Robert Laffont;
« Les soucoupes volantes, affaires sérieuses », par Frank Edwards, Editions Robert Laffont;
« Les objets volants non identifiés – Mythe ou réalité ? », par J Allen Hynek, Editions J’ai Lu;
« Nouveau rapport sur les O.V.N.I. », par J Allen Hynek, Editions J’ai Lu;
« The report on Unidentified Flying Object », par Edward J. Ruppelt, Editions Doubleday & Company Inc.
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