many military had upgraded documents to “Confidential” or “Secret.” Some security officers had created a new grade—“for official use only.” By this device, even declassified information could not be released to the newspapers.44
On February 13, Jim G. Lucas of Scripps-Howard reported that representatives of major airlines were planning to meet in Los Angeles with intelligence officers of the Military Air Transport Service. The purpose was to speed up UFO reporting procedures. Lucas wrote that airline pilots were reporting large numbers of UFOs during their flights and were now being asked “not to discuss their sightings publicly or give them to newspapers.” Lucas had accurate information. On February 17, 1954, officers of the Military Transport Intelligence met with officials of the Airline Pilots Union at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. The goal of the meeting was to implement JANAP 146, specifically to arrange for pilots to radio UFO reports to the nearest airport and make no public statements about them. Violations brought prison terms of up to ten years and/or a fine of $10,000.45
Scripps-Howard papers followed up on February 23 to report that “the nation’s 8,500 commercial airline pilots have been seeing a lot of unusual objects while flying at night, here and overseas.” It confirmed that plans for a detailed reporting system were agreed upon to enable the air force to investigate UFOs quickly. Each airline had an “internal security specialist” to meet with the air force.46
Meanwhile, on February 13, 1954, astronomer (and discoverer of Pluto) Clyde Tombaugh gave a talk to the Astronomy Society at Las Cruces, New Mexico. To the surprise of many, he predicted an increase in UFO sightings and told the audience to keep their eyes open and be ready to report any sighting quickly and precisely. Two days later, on February 15, 1954, journalist Dorothy Kilgallen wrote: “Flying saucers are regarded as of such vital importance that they will be the subject of a special hush-hush meeting of world military heads next summer.”47
Also during February 1954, a new civilian UFO organization sprang into existence: the Civilian Saucer Intelligence of New York (CSI). Its members included Ted Bloecher, Alexander Mebane, Isabel Davis, and others. They soon helped prepare the books of French UFO research Aimé Michel for the American public.48
These direct attacks against UFO secrecy ultimately made it more difficult to obtain information from the Pentagon. Public information officers now refused all requests to see UFO reports, including even those previously released, and reporters seeking information were banned from Wright-Patterson AFB. The British government seems to have been working in concert: on January 25, 1954, the British Air Ministry and the British War Office ordered soldiers and airmen to tell the public nothing of UFOs.49
In addition to clamming up, the Pentagon also initiated its own media offensive. This included an article planted by the air force in
[T]he publication to which you have referred was not submitted to the air force for authentication prior to publication. There is no official recognition and the air force does not choose to comment upon it.51
