CIA-UAP-D021, Analysis of Unconventional Aircraft Sightings, 1955

Official Conclusion

Efron's testimony alone could not confirm the existence of any unconventional aircraft; sightings likely explainable and representing no threat to U.S. security.

Official Description

Sections 1 and 2 of this memorandum document a 1955 analysis of reports of “flying saucers” or “unconventional aircraft,” referencing the incident described in observer debriefings contained within CIA-UAP-D020. The memo summarizes the incident as consisting of two lights rising vertically, then passing above the observers. The memo contains caveating language that suggests the author concluded that the reports, as described, did not indicate the presence of an “unconventional aircraft.” Section 3 cites a previous finding by Dr. [Howard] Robertson (of the 1953 Robertson Panel) that “almost all the sightings […] represented no threat to the U.S.” Section 4 discusses the state of then-current research into “saucer-like aircraft” under Project “Y,” a contemporary joint U.S.-Canadian aerospace development program.

Key Findings

• →A Prague dispatch (C-103, 13 October 1955) reported the sighting of two flying saucers or disc-like unconventional aircraft, but an interview with one of four observers (Mr. Efron) failed to confirm the dispatch's information in several respects.
• →The observer's testimony was limited to two lights rising vertically and passing overhead at high altitude (~9000 feet); he could not confirm the body shape or whether the object was round, disc-like, or square.
• →The author (Scoville) concluded that Efron's testimony alone could not confirm the existence of any unconventional aircraft, noting his observations were likely conditioned by Senator Russell's prior remarks about seeing a flying saucer.
• →Dr. Robertson's group previously investigated U.S. flying saucer sightings, was able to explain almost all of them, and concluded the phenomena represented no threat to U.S. security.
• →The USAF was supporting Project 'Y' at Avro Aircraft Ltd. in Canada to develop unconventional saucer-like aircraft, with calculated performance specs of up to 100,000-foot ceiling, 1800 mph speed, 700-mile range, and 120,000 ft/min climb rate; directed by John Frost, who reportedly derived the original concept from a group of Germans after World War II.

Extracted Entities