The other main piece of UFO-related news from August 1966, was the debut of debunker Philip Klass into the field. On August 22, he printed an article in
SUMMARY
The year 1966 was a crucial turning point in the history of the UFO problem. For over two years, thousands of UFO reports had swamped America, many of them good quality and utterly baffling. As a result, UFO consciousness was as high as it had been in 1947 and 1952, and the belief in UFOs even higher. The debunking system, in place since the 1953 Robertson Panel and which explained away UFOs at all costs, had broken down completely. True, Project Blue Book continued to derive explanations for an awesome number of reports which, upon superficial review, seemed impressive. The problem was the loss of credibility: no one but the most trusting loyalist believed Blue Book any longer. The explanations coming from Dayton seemed, to many, absurd and even dishonest.
Blue Book’s loss of credibility, however, did not mean the air force, or CIA, or whatever group in the caverns of American intelligence ran this thing, had lost control over the UFO problem. Project Blue Book, as a tool of the program, had become ineffective. What was needed, therefore, was a new tool. In obtaining one, the air force and its allies never lost the initiative and easily outmaneuvered Congress to control the destiny of the UFO problem within the public domain. The air force or the CIA—but not Congress—would choose the people who would, hopefully, end public speculation about UFOs.
Contrast the management of the problem by the military/intelligence community with the failure of NICAP to exploit its opportunity. For ten years, NICAP had pressed for congressional hearings on UFOs. Finally, amid the wave of 1966, Congress relented: a one-day hearing, to which NICAP was not even invited. Could the message have been any clearer? The UFO wave had given NICAP a rare opportunity which, had it occurred five years earlier, the organization might have been able to play more effectively. Now, however, NICAP lacked the leadership: Hillenkoetter and Fahrney were long gone, Keyhoe was getting old, and Hall, despite his abilities, was no Keyhoe. NICAP also lacked the money to launch an effective campaign for a real congressional investigation. Besides, NICAP never spoke for a unified “UFO community.” APRO held views that diverged and at times opposed NICAP’s, and neither organization was especially large, anyway. Undoubtedly, an ineffective organization is better than none at all. But opportunities pass quickly, and NICAP let this one slip away.
Finally, we may inquire about the attitude of the U.S. national security community to the UFOs themselves during this great wave. In 1947 and 1948, for instance, we see prominent generals and scientists studying the problem and seriously considering the extraterrestrial possibility; in 1952 we see the air force “bracing for an invasion”; what of 1966? The answer is hard to know with certainty. Internally, there appear to have been no major reevaluations of the UFO problem or policy. However, the air force moved efficiently toward dropping its great public burden: Project Blue Book. Not only had Blue Book damaged the overall credibility of the air force, but it probably hampered serious investigations to some degree, simply by stimulating public inquiry. It’s hard to conduct a secret investigation that everyone knows about.
And the past few years had brought many UFO cases that demanded secret inquiry: two probable UFO crashes and military retrievals; a possible landing at Holloman AFB; definite landings near Minot AFB, Blaine AFB, and elsewhere; the sighting by a trustworthy police officer of a landed craft and its humanoid occupants; continued sightings by army, navy, and air force personnel ; more attempted jet intercepts of UFO craft; the proliferation of crop circles in several countries; the continuation of UFO and humanoid sightings worldwide. These developments point to continued concern, or at least strong interest, by the national security state over unidentified flying objects, and the continuation in its belief that this was a matter that must never, ever, be allowed to escape its control.
