DISCLOSURE / FILE
A December 18, 1952 CIA memorandum for record summarizing a British messenger's report on UK government efforts to study unidentified flying objects, including a 'flying saucer' seen by RAF officials and pilots in Yorkshire.
CIA-UAP-014, British activity in the Field of "Unidentified Flying Objects"
A December 18, 1952 CIA memorandum for record summarizing a British messenger's report on UK government efforts to study unidentified flying objects, including a 'flying saucer' seen by RAF officials and pilots in Yorkshire.
The memo, signed by Assistant Director H. Marshall Chadwell, records a 15 December 1952 report from a messenger who spoke with British scientist R. V. Jones about a standing committee on flying saucers formed roughly sixteen months earlier. It describes a 'Yorkshire incident' at an RAF field where high RAF officials and pilots saw a 'perfect flying saucer' during a demonstration, prompting press coverage that concerned Jones because shaping public opinion fell within his responsibilities. The British committee concluded the observations were not enemy aircraft and that none had been over Britain. A second page lays out potential dangers from such sightings, including degraded early warning, mass hysteria, and overloaded emergency communications.
On 15 December, the recem.tly arrived messenger from Britain reported the following.p.1
The graup bas c~ncludea. that the observations are not eneiq aircraft and ~t none have been. over Brita.in .p.1
During the show, a "perfect f~g saucer 11 -~ •seen by these officials as well ..as BAF pilots.p.1
Thi~ is disturbing te Jones because he rea1izes that the ·ereatisn of the e0rrection Qf pablic opinion is a part of' his responsibilities.p.1
While there is no indication that these objects represent a direct threat to the national defense, there are certain potential dangers which are related to these sightings.p.2
The possibillty of mass hysteria whieh might be ~ posely induced by an enemy at a critical time by faked reports.p.2
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. Approved fo r Release 2026 Under Section 18 42 o f the Nat ional Defense Aut hori zat i on Act fo r Fiscal Year 2 02 4 , · -seeREr- .. , security f nformatlon 18 JDecemeer 1952 MEM0RANDtJM FOB RECORD Sl:'JBJEC'?: British Activity in the field 0f "Unidentified Flying Objects" I l. On 15 December, the recem.tly arrived messenger from Britain reported the following. Re 1aa4 talked with R. V. Jones and ~I---~ 2. The British have be.4 a standjng committee created a.bout sixteen months ago on f'lyillg saucers. . Pre8'1Dlably this is now ud.er Dr. Jeaes through inheritance. The RAF are aetien peopl.e. The graup bas c~ncludea. that the observations are not eneiq aircraft and ~t none have been. over Brita.in . 3. The activity has been quiet and normal up to about tem. to twelve days ago, at wJaich time the Yorkshire incident took place. In some W' field, there was same sort of demenstratien to whieb. high official.a of the BAF in Lendon had been invited. During the show, a "perfect f~g saucer 11 -~ •seen by these officials as well ..as BAF pilots. So.Dlal:lY peaple saw it tbat ~ articles appeared in the pulic presa. Thi~ is disturbing te Jones because he rea1izes that the ·ereatisn of the e0rrection Qf pablic opinion is a part of' his responsibilities. 4. Jones reminded us ef the SWedisb. incident (pres'QD18.bly he refers ·:•, to the 013.e in 1946-)., and reminds us o'f a paper on the origin of' metearites -....__ ~: , . ~ .:- ~ pu.blisllted ill the French Acu.em;y of' Sciences betlfeen 176o and 1780 by Cb.la.dni. ' .~ .,....,.,, , 5. The traveler teld Jones of' 0ur interest at this time, mentioned ·, ... · • . _ . the film vhich had been taken by the Naval non-commissioned officer (1'remonton incident). It is possibl.e that Jones. Will. write asking for a copy of'. the film or :further on the same subJect . . ~(!_ H. MABSHALI. ClWJWELL l Assis~t Direc;tor Distributien: / Scientific Intelligence Opns/SI - l. P&E7SI - l. W&E/SI - 1 AD/SI - 2 / /SECR ET-
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\ While there is no indication that these objects represent a direct threat to the national defense, there are certain potential dangers which are related to these sightings. These are: 1. The difficulty and delay in positive 1dentification which could weaken the early warning system in alerting defense in the event of commencement of hostilities.* 2. The possibillty of mass hysteria whieh might be ~ posely induced by an enemy at a critical time by faked reports. 3. The possibillty that the emergency eonmnmications systems to command headquarters might be seriously overloaded at a critical time by such reports. It is believed that the problems of communications confusion and overload and the serious e:ff'ects of mass hysteria mist be dealt with outside the intelligence community, and 1t is planned to bring these matters to the attention of those agencies with whom the prime respon sibility appears to rest. With respect to ma.ss hysteria, it is believed this problem would lie with the Federal. Civil Defense .Administration and/ or the Interdepartmental. Cammittee on Internal Security. Accordingly, it is planned to bring this to the attention of the FCDA and ICIS through established channels. With respect to emergency eommm:deatiellS overload ing, it is believed that each of the individual Mil.itary Services should examine this problem. Accordingly, we intend to introduce the subject at a meeting of the Joint Communications and Electronics Cammittee. " " " -·z #-1:f±t~~--~-·~;~c,
Concatenated page-by-page transcript. Born-digital pages came through pdf.js; scanned pages were transcribed by Claude vision OCR. Pages marked unreadable failed multiple OCR retries (heavy redaction, microfilm artifacts, or blank separators) and are kept in place for audit.
. Approved fo r Release 2026 Under Section 18 42 o f the Nat ional Defense Aut hori zat i on Act fo r Fiscal Year 2 02 4 , · -seeREr- .. , security f nformatlon 18 JDecemeer 1952 MEM0RANDtJM FOB RECORD Sl:'JBJEC'?: British Activity in the field 0f "Unidentified Flying Objects" I l. On 15 December, the recem.tly arrived messenger from Britain reported the following. Re 1aa4 talked with R. V. Jones and ~I---~ 2. The British have be.4 a standjng committee created a.bout sixteen months ago on f'lyillg saucers. . Pre8'1Dlably this is now ud.er Dr. Jeaes through inheritance. The RAF are aetien peopl.e. The graup bas c~ncludea. that the observations are not eneiq aircraft and ~t none have been. over Brita.in . 3. The activity has been quiet and normal up to about tem. to twelve days ago, at wJaich time the Yorkshire incident took place. In some W' field, there was same sort of demenstratien to whieb. high official.a of the BAF in Lendon had been invited. During the show, a "perfect f~g saucer 11 -~ •seen by these officials as well ..as BAF pilots. So.Dlal:lY peaple saw it tbat ~ articles appeared in the pulic presa. Thi~ is disturbing te Jones because he rea1izes that the ·ereatisn of the e0rrection Qf pablic opinion is a part of' his responsibilities. 4. Jones reminded us ef the SWedisb. incident (pres'QD18.bly he refers ·:•, to the 013.e in 1946-)., and reminds us o'f a paper on the origin of' metearites -....__ ~: , . ~ .:- ~ pu.blisllted ill the French Acu.em;y of' Sciences betlfeen 176o and 1780 by Cb.la.dni. ' .~ .,....,.,, , 5. The traveler teld Jones of' 0ur interest at this time, mentioned ·, ... · • . _ . the film vhich had been taken by the Naval non-commissioned officer (1'remonton incident). It is possibl.e that Jones. Will. write asking for a copy of'. the film or :further on the same subJect . . ~(!_ H. MABSHALI. ClWJWELL l Assis~t Direc;tor Distributien: / Scientific Intelligence Opns/SI - l. P&E7SI - l. W&E/SI - 1 AD/SI - 2 / /SECR ET-
\ While there is no indication that these objects represent a direct threat to the national defense, there are certain potential dangers which are related to these sightings. These are: 1. The difficulty and delay in positive 1dentification which could weaken the early warning system in alerting defense in the event of commencement of hostilities.* 2. The possibillty of mass hysteria whieh might be ~ posely induced by an enemy at a critical time by faked reports. 3. The possibillty that the emergency eonmnmications systems to command headquarters might be seriously overloaded at a critical time by such reports. It is believed that the problems of communications confusion and overload and the serious e:ff'ects of mass hysteria mist be dealt with outside the intelligence community, and 1t is planned to bring these matters to the attention of those agencies with whom the prime respon sibility appears to rest. With respect to ma.ss hysteria, it is believed this problem would lie with the Federal. Civil Defense .Administration and/ or the Interdepartmental. Cammittee on Internal Security. Accordingly, it is planned to bring this to the attention of the FCDA and ICIS through established channels. With respect to emergency eommm:deatiellS overload ing, it is believed that each of the individual Mil.itary Services should examine this problem. Accordingly, we intend to introduce the subject at a meeting of the Joint Communications and Electronics Cammittee. " " " -·z #-1:f±t~~--~-·~;~c,