Project Ozma in the government record

Primary documents · 3

• PDFCommunication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence, by Lambros D. Callimahos (NSA Cryptologic Spectrum)National Security Agency
• PDFWhite House 'Space Alien Race' Memo, 1963Department of State
• PDFState Department's 1952 UFO Wave MemoDepartment of State

Findings · 1

• War.gov May 8th 2026Two years before Mariner 4, the National Aeronautics and Space Council drafted contingency plans for alien-intelligence discovery.

Scholarly research · 1

• PAPERRelative Likelihood of Success in the Searches for Primitive versus Intelligent Extraterrestrial LifeLingam et al. · 2019

Quick facts

Why does an NSA paper cite Project Ozma?

Lambros D. Callimahos, a senior NSA cryptanalyst, wrote a Cryptologic Spectrum paper arguing 'we are not alone in the universe' and treating communication with extraterrestrial intelligence as a serious cryptanalytic problem. The paper places Project Ozma alongside the Arecibo Observatory and the 1961 Green Bank conference in its survey of search efforts.

What do the 1963 State Department memos say?

A July 18, 1963 National Aeronautics and Space Council memo from staffer Maxwell W. Hunter II to the State Department lays out three contingency scenarios for the discovery of an alien intelligent race and argues U.S. diplomatic policy would need to be set by which one it turns out to be. A companion staff memo walks State's Office of International Scientific Affairs through the diplomatic posture each class of contact would force.