CIA Memorandum on Unidentified Flying Objects

Summary

In 1955, the CIA reviewed its responsibility for reports on unidentified flying objects (UFOs). According to an internal memorandum, the project was considered inactive, yet it still required analyst time to periodically review incoming material and separate explainable cases from those that remained unidentified. The Physics and Electronics Division noted that no intelligence relevant to national security had emerged from the project and that it did not meet the criteria of Critical National Intelligence Objectives under DCID guidelines. Furthermore, it was argued that freeing up resources for more essential projects was necessary, especially in a context of budgetary constraints.

The CIA proposed depositing all UFO-related materials into files for future reference, unless a case raised an immediate security concern. However, since 1953, analyzing these reports had consumed between 10 and 25 hours of work per month, deemed an unnecessary expenditure. Ultimately, it was recommended to terminate the project and archive the documents in dead storage, marking the end of an initiative that had not yielded significant results.