The air force maintains a continuous surveillance of the atmosphere for unidentified flying objects.... There is a relationship between the air force’s interest in space surveillance and its continuous surveillance of the atmosphere near Earth for unidentified flying objects—UFOs.
It would be difficult to state the matter any clearer, and yet the message, once again, eluded the larger public.132
Matters dragged on through the fall and winter with no change. In November, the air force informed Congressman Smart it had “not yet” implemented his requests for improvements to Blue Book. On December 5, 1960, Keyhoe debated Tacker on NBC’s
The last item of significance to UFOs from 1960 was the famous Brookings Institution report, released on December 14, which gave credence to the concept of extraterrestrial life. Titled “Proposed Study on the Implications of Peaceful Space Activities for Human Affairs,” the one-hundred-page report was prepared on behalf of NASA to discuss the implications of the space program. Because of NASA’s status as a government agency, the report was sent to the Senate Committee on Science and Astronautics, chaired by Overton Brooks, for approval. The report discussed much of interest to UFO researchers, such as the possibility of finding alien artifacts on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system. Contact with aliens, argued the report, could be dangerous. Not only would it be traumatic to religious fundamentalists and scientific circles, but indeed might result in social “disintegration.” It suggested that if evidence of extraterrestrial life were uncovered, withholding such knowledge from the public might be a good idea. Of course, it might not matter. In relation to UFOs, the report stated:
It is possible that if the intelligence of these creatures were sufficiently superior to ours, they might choose to have little if any contact with us.134
THE SECRET STATE IN 1960 AND 1961
By late 1960, Eisenhower was on his way out, Kennedy in. From a review of what declassified information exists, it appears that America’s national security state went through significant expansion during this period, and, no doubt emboldened by years of secrecy and success, its activities became ever more brazen. More exotic methods of controlling the human mind emerged, such as the innovation by Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) biophysicist Alan Frey, who announced in 1961 that human beings were capable of hearing microwave broadcasts. More traditional methods of disposing of enemies remained the rule, however. In September 1960, Sid Gottlieb of MK-Ultra prepared a lethal biological agent intended for Patrice Lumumba, then in the protective custody of the United Nations. His concoction never reached Lumumba, but on January 17, 1961, Lumumba was “shot trying to escape” by the troops of CIA-backed Joseph Mobutu.135
By October 1960, as Castro’s poisoned cigars were ready, the CIA decided that a force of perhaps one hundred Cubans would make a landing in Cuba in late autumn. This was planned to be a major, well-trained guerrilla group within Cuba and a rallying point for other guerrilla groups. In November, the CIA began airdropping supplies into Cuba. President-elect Kennedy was soon briefed on the Cuban operation (11/17/60) by Dulles and Bissell at Palm Beach and gave the go-ahead.136
Eisenhower, still president, finally learned of SAC’s war plan in late November, called the Single Integrated Operational Plan, or SIOP The plan distressed him: ten nations would be totally obliterated, and 500 million people would die. By this time, the United States had roughly twenty-three thousand nuclear warheads in its arsenal, and Eisenhower probably realized that he had lost command over America’s nuclear arsenal.
Dwight Eisenhower delivered his farewell address on January 17, 1961. It became famous for introducing the phrase “military-industrial complex.” His key statement:
