Saucers, Space & Science - No 24

Magazine Overview

Title: SAUCERS SPACE & SCIENCE
Issue: Number 24
Date: February 1962
Editor: Gene Duplantier
Publisher: Gene Duplantier
Country: Canada

This issue features a significant "Open Letter to Saucer Researchers" by Dr. Leon Davidson, which presents a controversial theory about the origins and manipulation of the flying saucer phenomenon. The magazine also includes reports on various UFO sightings and related news.

An Open Letter to Saucer Researchers by Dr. Leon Davidson

Dr. Leon Davidson posits that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), formed in 1947, took over the public image of the "flying saucer" that had been created by secret U.S. aircraft and artificial meteor research during 1947-48. By 1950, the CIA allegedly initiated a plan to encourage public belief in interplanetary travel through psychological techniques. This involved guiding the release of planted information, ordering "secret" tests of authentic military developments that created misleading impressions, and delegating the Air Force to act as the official "investigator" to deter public inquiry.

Davidson claims the CIA secretly sponsored the formation of saucer study groups and contact clubs, including NICAP (associated with T. Townsend Brown). The agency also allegedly sponsored the publication of books by authors like Adamski and publicized saucer articles in major magazines such as "Life" and "Look" in 1952. Furthermore, the CIA is accused of conducting hoaxes involving George Adamski and Dan Fry, including Adamski's desert contacts and his "train disappearance."

Davidson quotes Allen Dulles, then leader of the CIA, stating that "maximum security exists concerning the subject of UFO's," suggesting a deliberate effort to suppress information. He argues that the anti-atom bomb drive of 1957-58, which led to a ban on nuclear bomb testing, was the only publicly recognizable objective of the CIA-sponsored flying saucer movement, with the early contact stories serving as a build-up for this.

Historical Development of CIA's Role

In 1946, the U.S. Navy, drawing on World War II research and German rocket information, developed several gadgets, including:

• (a) The Flying Flapjack: Scheduled for test flight in the summer of 1947 at Huroc, the same time and place as early Project Grudge cases. Designed by C.H. Zimmerman of NACA and Chance-Vought.
• (b) The "Flying Platform": Also designed by Zimmerman, based on his patent 2,417,896 (applied for in 1943, publicized in 1955 by the Office of Naval Research in "Look" and/or "Colliers").
• (c) Launching of artificial meteors: Using shaped charges carried by V-2 rockets over New Mexico starting in December 1945, which led to the "green fireballs."
• (d) The "Skyhook" balloon project: And other high-altitude research.

In 1947, the Air Force was reportedly embarrassed by "saucer" sightings at its bases, while Naval Air Bases were not. The Air Force's "flying wings" (YB-35 and YB-49) had issues, with the YB-49 crashing at Huroc in June 1948. The Navy's "flying flapjack" (XF50-1) had no publicly reported flights but was not officially scrapped until March 1948. The Navy also had a restricted area near Arco, Idaho, which was near the center of "saucer" activity during that period.

The CIA began operations on May 1, 1947, under Admiral Hillenkoeter. The earliest two dated cases in the official Air Force Project Grudge files were:

• May 17 (or 21), 1947, Oklahoma City: "Round, disk-like, ten times longer than thick, high speed." (Case 82).
• May 19, 1947, Kanitou Springs, Colorado: "Reversal of direction of flight; manoeuvres." (Case 92).

In early 1949, following the "unification" of the armed forces, an Air Force general ordered the discontinuation of the "flying saucer" investigation and the closure of Project Grudge by the end of 1949. This general's name and the full text of his letter are in the secret Project Grudge report (No. 102-AC 49/15-100). The general ordered the project name changed from Project SIGN to Project GRUDGE. Davidson explains that Project SIGN was given, under CIA auspices, to promote the idea of saucers as interplanetary messengers of wisdom. The general, unaware of the CIA's involvement, used the name GRUDGE to reflect the fierce inter-service rivalry, especially as the Navy was sending its "secret aircraft" to taunt Air Force bases.

The June 1947 Maury Island (Tacoma, Wash.) sighting, though not widely known until after the Secret Grudge Report's 1949 release (restricted to military and AC personnel), was referenced by the RAND Corp. in its chapter of the Grudge Report. The Maury Island incident is detailed in a book by Arnold and Ray Palmer, linking Palmer to the early stages of the flying saucer story.

During 1950, Allen Dulles became actively involved with the CIA's saucer work and recognized its psychological impact, initiating a plan to use it as a psychological warfare weapon. Ruppelt's book reportedly shows the steps the CIA took. Project Bluebook was prepared in 1950-51, and Ruppolt was groomed for public relations. A series of "incidents" were planned and executed involving regular military units, leading to cases considered authentic evidence of saucers. Davidson refers to his article in the March-April 1960 "Flying Saucer Review" (England) and page 127 of Ruppelt's book regarding the Sept. 10, 1951, Ft. Monmouth radar sighting.

By this time, the need to fly "real aircraft" diminished as the Flying Flapjack and Skyhook balloons had served their purpose. The public had been inoculated, and there was no longer a need to postulate "secret new aircraft" to explain sightings.

The CIA scheduled a major publicity surge for saucers in Spring and Summer 1952. The "Life" article "Have We Visitors from Space?" in April 1952, prepared for a year with government help, was the public kick-off. The "blue flash" technique, first tried over Seattle in May 1952, was used for the Sept. 12, 1952, "blue meteor" incident over Washington, D.C., and adjacent states. This coincided with the Flat Woods, W.Va., "monster" sighting, with the "meteor" seen landing near the discovery site. Davidson notes this incident, described by Gray Barker, as marking Barker's early connection with the CIA's program.

By Fall 1952, the CIA had planned "landing" and "contact" stories, preceded by fabricated stories about "little green men" (e.g., a Denver University lecture in March 1950, which showed 50% of college-level people would believe a well-presented story). The Desvergers (Florida) and Mayor Linke (Germany) landing stories in 1952 were also planted by the CIA.

The Tremonton films from Summer 1952 convinced Davidson that saucers were real, though he now believes they were a clever fake. The major sightings of the 1952 "flap," including Nash-Fortenberry (Norfolk, Va.) and Coast Guard photos (Salem, Mass.), received much publicity, with newspapers featuring hundreds of cases, editorials, and cartoons on the subject.

In January 1953, the CIA convened a panel of five scientists to "study the situation." The report, according to Ruppelt, was "pre-conditioned" by the CIA and lent credence to the validity of saucers in official circles, though kept secret. Major Keyhoe was allegedly fed reports by his "friends" in the government to bolster his case for interplanetary saucers, leading to best-selling books. George Adamski, who was duped into cooperation in late 1949, was hoaxed into a desert "contact" in November 1952 and later received backing from the CIA for his book "Flying Saucers Have Landed." His "space flight" hoax was described in Davidson's "Flying Saucer Review" article.

Jim Moseley, active in saucer publishing, is presented as typical of young men with mysterious antecedents involved in this period. Davidson notes that even Moseley, who espoused the "Earth theory," gave publicity to the contactee side. Dan Fry's experience (1950) was published in 1954. Davidson outlines the CIA's planned sequence for the "contact story" buildup:

1. "Little Green Men" stories (1949-1950) to "soften-up" the public.
2. Contact by voice ratio (Dan Fry, 1950) and radio contact (Laimon Streeter, 1952).
3. Contact with a human being "from space" (Adamski, 1952).
4. Contact with English-speaking humans "from space" and flights into "space" (Adamski, 1953).
5. Visits to "other planets" (Angelucci, Nelson, 1952, 1954).
6. Publicity for "midgets" contacting the general public (1955).
7. Publicity for full-size "human space people" contacting earth-people (Howard Henger, 1956-1957).
8. Anti-atom bomb propaganda disseminated by saucer clubs (1957), leading to the cessation of bomb tests in 1958.
9. Current status of contactee-cults, focusing on the belief that "space people" are here on Earth, identical to humans, or that humans originated from other planets.

Davidson notes the current "hysteria" in contact groups about a calamity in February 1962, suggesting the CIA might be building up a belief in the imminence of such an occurrence. He mentions Michael X calling for recruits and Dr. Bernard receiving funds for his publications.

He identifies "agents provocateurs" of the CIA in published stories, individuals who help establish contact or supply funds and then fade away. Examples include Walter Wiers (associated with Adamski's contact), Miss H. (Adamski's first contact), Major Sonder, M/S Elmer Taff, and the "man in black" from the Maury Island incident. He also mentions "the angel" funding NICAP and Mr. Nicolas de Rochefort, a U.S. Government psychological warfare expert and founder of NICAP.

Mr. "X", an electrical engineer, helped Howard Henger with "demonstrations" in 1946. "Mr. Redell" is credited with convincing Major Keyhoe of the interplanetary nature of saucers and the "invisible saucer" case.

Davidson identifies "Oskar Linke" as a key figure in a June 1952 German sighting suggesting Russian secret devices, though he later corresponded with someone claiming to be Linke who provided evidence of not being German. This case is also known as the "Hasselbach" sighting.

Davidson states that after seeing the Tremonton films in a private showing at the Pentagon (arranged by the CIA), he firmly believed in flying saucers as "secret U.S. aircraft or missiles." However, friends in other government agencies told him such devices did not exist. He published thousands of copies of the Air Force Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14 to highlight the "inanity" of the Air Force's denials, unknowingly acting as a CIA agent to spread the belief in American secret devices.

His thinking shifted after investigating the John Otto-Mildred Maier-Major Walker-CIA case and the "code signals." He began to see psychological warfare as the real explanation for the saucer riddle. He suggests that many saucer magazines were not for the general readership but for "those on the inside of the research," including potential enemy agents.

Davidson expresses sympathy for Major Keyhoe, believing he has been "ill-used" by the CIA and is still being fed stories. He analyzes Keyhoe's description of a sighting in "Flying Saucers--Top Secret" as a "dress rehearsal" of a psychological warfare gimmick.

He offers to correspond with anyone seeking additional copies of his letter or detailed references.

Special Notices and Book Promotions

"Flying Saucers and The Three Men" by Albert K. Bender

Gray Barker, editor of "The Saucerian Bulletin," announces a personal news release regarding Albert K. Bender and "The Bender Mystery." Barker claims Bender has found the solution to the saucer mystery and identified the "three men" who allegedly warned him into silence. Bender, director of the International Flying Saucer Bureau (IFSB), closed the organization suddenly after this encounter.

Barker is publishing a limited edition of Bender's hard cover book, "Flying Saucers and The Three Men," at $3.95 each. He emphasizes that this may be the most important flying saucer book ever published and advises readers to order quickly. A coupon is provided for advance orders, with a refund offered if the reader is not satisfied within ten days of receiving the book.

Additionally, Barker is offering a complete file of Bender's publication, "SPACE REVIEW" (back issues were destroyed when IFSB closed), reproduced in a supplementary book for $1.50. This file is not essential for understanding Bender's book but serves as a handy tool for researchers.

Personal News Release: RE: ALBERT K. BENDER

This release, dated February 15, 1962, reiterates the information about Albert K. Bender and the "Bender Mystery." It details how Bender formed the International Flying Saucer Bureau (IFSB) in Bridgeport, Conn., which grew rapidly. The sudden closure of IFSB occurred after Bender claimed to have found the solution to the saucer mystery but was visited by three men in dark clothing who warned him into silence.

For years, speculation surrounded Bender's silence. The release states that Bender has now "finally come to its startling conclusion" and is ready to reveal his solution and identify the "three men." Gray Barker has entered into a legal contract with Bender to publish his findings, ensuring that Bender will go through with it. Barker describes the manuscript as "even more unusual than I had supposed" and "honest," detailing amazing events in Bridgeport that led to Bender's solution.

Barker explains that revealing the full details without proper background could cause undue fright. He emphasizes that the book will be titled "Flying Saucers and The Three Men" and that 2,000 copies of the limited edition will be available on April 15th, 1962, at $3.95 each. He warns that the book will be "more frightening to some people than to others" but stresses the need to continue research and check Bender's details. He also mentions adding personal material to minimize potential harm.

UFO Sightings and Reports

• Woman Says Flying Objects Chase Car: A young housewife, Mrs. Rhonda DuBois, reported that four UFOs followed her car for over 30 miles along deserted highway 50 in New Mexico on a Saturday morning. The objects, described as brilliant balls of white light, flashed, slowed down, and followed the car, even disappearing and reappearing. They eventually broke up into four smaller lights that followed alongside the car until they reached a motel, where they flashed into the sky and disappeared.

• Souris-Prince Edward Island, Canada: A sighting of 3 mysterious flying objects was reported on the evening of September 28, 1961. One disappeared shortly after being sighted, while the other two remained visible until the spectator lost sight of them. The objects were described as football-shaped with a bright light blinking regularly on the end, capable of moving in any direction.

• UFO Report from Cincinnati, Ohio (January 3, 1962): Reports flooded in about a flaming green object. Some reports indicated it landed, but these could not be traced. The flood of reports occurred between 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm.

• UFO Report #2 (Cincinnati): Charles Klug sighted a stationary bluish-green, star-like object about 50 degrees above the horizon. It was described as twice as bright as a star and changed colors from blue to green and back. The object was observed for 3 minutes.

• Woman Reports Seeing Strange Flying Object (Sudbury, Ontario): Mrs. Jean Dixon reported seeing a large, red, illuminated object with a reddish glow flying very low over Sudbury around 7:45 pm on November 10, 1961. The object moved slowly from the direction of the General Hospital towards the Iytlwylde Golf Course. She noted it was unlike any "sputniks" she had seen before and that two other people in the area also spotted it.

• Mystery Object Races Across Sky (Sarnia, Ontario): A brilliant red and white object was observed skimming across the southwestern sky about 10:15 pm on Friday, October 7, 1961. Observers reported it raced south, then doubled back north, emitting a brilliant white beam as it turned.

• A Wild Goose Chase Can Be Just That for Defense Pilots: This section discusses how fighter interceptor pilots are often sent to investigate unidentified objects in the sky, which frequently turn out to be commercial or private planes off their flight plans, or reflections from unusual cloud formations or planets. Factors contributing to false alarms include variations in airliner schedules due to weather, poor flying conditions, and radar illusions.

Weird Objects Photographed

Three objects found in the Nevada Desert about three or four years prior were brought to Salt Lake City and photographed. They were reportedly turned over to the Department of Anthropology at the University of Utah, which seemed to remember something but did not have the objects or an explanation. The drawing is from a copied photograph. The article questions if any saucers are missing occupants for over 4 years.

Nurses Will Fly on Space Trips

Nurses are being trained to accompany spacemen on their journeys of exploration. The International Council of Nurses stated that astronauts will need nurses qualified to treat patients suffering from illnesses, diseases, and mental tensions caused by space launching, weightless flight, and landings.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue revolve around government secrecy, particularly concerning the CIA's alleged manipulation of the flying saucer phenomenon for psychological warfare purposes. The magazine strongly advocates for the public disclosure of UFO information, as evidenced by Dr. Davidson's detailed letter and Gray Barker's promotion of Albert K. Bender's book, which promises to reveal a long-suppressed secret. The editorial stance appears to be one of skepticism towards official explanations and a belief that a significant cover-up is in place, with the true nature of UFOs being obscured by hoaxes and disinformation campaigns. The issue also touches upon the growing field of space travel and the need for specialized medical care for astronauts.