The air force received more UFO reports during the second half of 1962. In mid- to late-September, northeastern New Jersey experienced a flurry of sightings. Something strange occurred near the Oradell reservoir on September 15, when witnesses claimed to see two bright discs descend toward the reservoir, one of which was heard touching the water. Someone called the police, but the object soon departed. ATIC investigated, but neither this nor any New Jersey sighting was classified as unknown. Most official unknowns were less interesting, such as the sighting in Tampa, Florida, on November 17, by a former Marine Corps captain who saw three star-like objects approach horizontally and hover for about fifteen minutes.9
On November 15, Carl Sagan presented a remarkable paper to the American Rocket Society, arguing that not only was space travel possible, but that other civilizations “must today be plying the spaces between the stars.” Indirectly critiquing the Ozma/Arecibo program, he stated that radio was not always the best way to establish contact with others. What would be, then? Apparently, direct, physical contact. Sagan assumed that if there were about a million worlds in the galaxy capable of such feats, they might visit one another once in every thousand years. Thus, he said, scouts may have visited the Earth a total of ten thousand times over the full span of Earth’s history. Sagan quickly added that there were no reliable reports of such visitation, but urged scholars to study ancient myths and legends for clues. It was “not out of the question,” said Sagan, that relics of such visits could yet be found. There might even be a hidden base, perhaps on the far side of the moon. Indeed, a remote location could very well be used for protection against weather and elements, and to avoid meddling with Earth’s inhabitants. Throughout his public life, Sagan came down hard against UFO reports, eventually describing belief in UFOs as pseudoscience. Yet, what an amazing speech! Especially considering that Sagan was no mere independent academic, but rather an advisor to the U.S. military at the time on such matters as extraterrestrial life.10
On December 27, 1962, Wilbert B. Smith died. He had contributed to the cause of ending UFO secrecy and developed some interesting, if unprovable, ideas about aliens, essentially in line with the interpretation offered by many of the so-called contactees. Smith had long asserted privately that he had established a telepathic communication with the aliens. He did not publicize this or attempt to profit by this belief, but believed it sincerely. A speech he delivered in Ottawa on March 31, 1958, contains a fair sampling of his thoughts. Although alien science, he said, might be “forever beyond our comprehension,” the aliens were our “blood brothers.” Despite their interest in us, they remained aloof because of a basic law that “grants each and every individual independence and freedom of choice.... No one has the right to interfere in the affairs of others....”11 For believers in the UFO phenomenon, this was among the most hopeful of philosophies.
WHO RAN THE CIA?
The U.S. presidency was not the only office that could be out of the decision-making loop in the netherworld of the secret state. By late 1962, a full year into John McCone’s tenure as DCI, he remained unaware of the MK-Ultra program, or of the agency’s connection to the Mafia. Richard Helms, who did know about such things, simply neglected to tell him. This is yet another lesson in trying to understand the nature of the UFO cover-up, a slippery entity if there ever was one. What did McCone know about UFOs? We don’t know.12
On February 11, 1963, the CIA established a domestic operations division for its clandestine services, conducted within the U.S. against “foreign targets.” David Wise noted that this was actually one of at least half a dozen CIA operations operating domestically in the U.S. In reality, no one can really determine what was going on at the CIA. For example, MK-Ultra was supposedly terminated in 1963. More accurately, this refers to the program’s official name only. True, Cameron’s work was terminated following the Kennedy assassination. But during 1964 and 1965, Sid Gottlieb authorized over a dozen subprojects related to Cameron’s work under a new acronym, MK-Search. Many of those investigations dealt with ways to destabilize human personalities.13
The NSA’s Operation Shamrock benefited from new technology during 1963. This was RCA Global’s development of computerized magnetic tape, which revolutionized communications and intelligence gathering. Instead of poring through messages for days, analysts now searched for key words and phrases relating to a particular subject. The NSA soon had many customers for this service: the FBI, CIA, Secret Service, and others who asked for “watch lists” of names and organizations.
UFOS IN THE WORLD: 1962
