The implications are obvious. Blue Book served no useful purpose. It was “an administrative burden” and had not been taking serious UFO reports, anyway. What could it have been, other than a public relations facade? Unfortunately, Bolender said nothing else about other air force or military UFO activities. The very existence of military channels to investigate UFOs as part of national security, however, makes it self-evident that
The rest was a formality. On December 17, 1969, Air Force Secretary Robert Seamans, back from his jaunt to the Plain of Jars, announced the termination of Project Blue Book. On the basis of recommendations by Dr. Condon, Seamans stated, Blue Book could not be continued because it “cannot be justified either on the grounds of national security or in the interest of science.” While Seamans did not go so far as to say that all UFO reports had been explained, he came very close:
As a result of investigating UFO reports since 1948, the conclusions of Project Blue Book are: (1) No UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the air force has ever given any indication of being a threat to our national security; (2) there has been no evidence submitted or discovered by the air force that sightings categorized as “unidentified” represent technological developments or principles beyond the range of present-day scientific knowledge; and (3) there has been no evidence that sightings categorized as “unidentified” are of extraterrestrial vehicles.
Project Blue Book records were to be retired to the USAF Archives at Maxwell AFB in Alabama. In theory, adequate public access to the records would be provided by the Air Force Office of Information (SAFOI). In practice, it did not follow automatically that Blue Book files were freely open to the public. As late as the mid-1970s, the files, while not classified, were kept in a building that was. As Vallee remarked, “the interesting result [was] that one need[ed] a security clearance in order to see these ‘unclassified’ papers.” (Incidentally, the files of the Condon Committee became similarly unavailable, apparently locked up by the University of Colorado, transferred to a private home, then burned.) Eventually, the Blue Book files, minus the witness names, were consigned to the Modern Military Branch, Military Archives Division, National Archives, Washington, D.C.107
Ironically, in October 1969, NICAP acquired a copy of a chapter on UFOs used by the USAF Academy which took the subject very seriously, and even said the problem warranted extensive scientific study. Among its references were two of Keyhoe’s books, as well as NICAP’s
Thus, the air force ended its public involvement with UFOs. In the future, it continued to find UFO reports of interest, just as other military and intelligence services did, but with vastly improved privacy. Meanwhile, citizens wishing to report a UFO sighting now had no place in the government to go. Previous estimates by both Hynek and the Colorado University project indicated that less than 10 percent of people witnessing a UFO ever filed a report with any organization, be it Blue Book, NICAP, APRO, or elsewhere. Henceforth, that number plummeted even further.
The real demise of NICAP came on December 3, 1969, when the board of governors, meeting for the first time since 1960, demanded Donald Keyhoe’s resignation. Keyhoe did so, under protest. He was seventy-two years old. Leading the effort was Col. Joseph Bryan, board chairman and former chief of the CIA psychological warfare staff. Bryan also dismissed NICAP stalwart and assistant director, Gordon Lore, Jr., replacing him with G. Stuart Nixon, who then became acting director. Although Bryan had initiated the meeting, and had written and distributed a memo calling Keyhoe inept, he later denied that he had anything to do with the ouster. However, UFO researcher Todd Zechel pointed out some history regarding Colonel Bryan. In late 1959, for example, Colonel Bryan, ostensibly an air force officer, approached Keyhoe, asking to see some of his “really hot cases.” Keyhoe suspected an air force plot to infiltrate NICAP, and resisted. Soon, however, Bryan put Keyhoe at ease with several public comments regarding the interplanetary nature of UFOs and criticisms of government UFO secrecy. Before long, Bryan was a member of the NICAP board. Although he denied any association to the agency while on NICAP, he finally admitted to it in 1977. He had withheld this knowledge, Bryan said, because “it might embarrass CIA.”
