On December 16, 1948, General Putt changed the name of Project Sign to Project Grudge; the official switch occurred in February 1949. It signified a more serious debunking and dismissal of UFOs. Grudge’s methods were twofold: explain every UFO report, then tell the public how it had solved all sightings. The change was so pronounced that Ruppelt even wondered whether there was a hidden reason. “Was it actually an attempt to go underground—to make the project more secretive?” On the basis of what the record reveals, and especially in light of the recent Analysis, the answer is yes.18
1949: GENERAL DEVELOPMENTS
In 1949, crashed disc stories circulated within the military. A Los Angeles UFO researcher, Max Miller, later wrote about a story he heard in 1949 concerning a flying saucer crash somewhere in the Southwest. The saucer had supposedly been retrieved and brought to an unnamed air force base; several tourists nearby even took photos. Miller’s source for the story was an unnamed army sergeant. Later that year,
Another rumor making the rounds in 1949 was the military’s determination to capture a flying saucer. U.S. Air Force Capt. Edward Stone later told Donald Keyhoe that the air force was ordered to “get” a flying saucer “by any possible means.” Keyhoe tried to substantiate the story and claimed that an intelligence major named Jere Boggs admitted to him that it was true. Today, these stories remain only old rumors. Yet, it is noteworthy that they were circulating through the military as early as 1949.19
The CIA’s Office of Scientific Intelligence continued to maintain an interest in UFOs at this time, according to a 1952 CIA memorandum (Good 1988, 330). An interesting sidelight to CIA activities of 1949, which indirectly concerns UFOs, featured the country of Albania. That year, the CIA took over the ambitious British effort to build a sizable resistance movement there. Frank Wisner organized and manned the operation. His first choice was a young man named Robert Low. Low became infamous twenty years later for his manipulation and sabotage of the University of Colorado project to investigate UFOs, known as the Condon Committee. But can we be sure this was the same Robert Low working for the CIA in Albania? In his study of the Condon Committee, David Saunders mentioned in passing that Low had been a combat intelligence officer aboard a destroyer during the war, was honorably discharged in 1946, and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1948. The least we can say is that everything seems to fit. The Albanian project, incidentally, failed miserably. One contributing factor was the inclusion of another person on the team: British double-agent Kim Philby.20
The U.S. intelligence community conducted other interesting operations in 1949. Paperclip was running smoothly by now. Widespread, illegal spraying of U.S. cities with bacteria and pathogens began this year, courtesy of the U.S. Army, in order to test biological weapons. This program continued for twenty years.21
Things were not as they appeared in the land of the free.
DIVERGING OPINIONS
The U.S. military and intelligence communities were clearly not as one regarding UFOs. The pattern continued to emerge: Air Material Command and ATIC stonewalled on UFOs to their colleagues.
On January 13, 1949, a U.S. Army Intelligence memo to the Pentagon expressed great concern over the green fireballs. The memo discussed the possibility of Soviet mischief, but considered it more likely that “the United States may be carrying on some top secret experiments.... It is felt that these incidents are of such great importance, especially as they are occurring in the vicinity of sensitive installations, that a scientific board be sent to this locality....”22
On January 30, hundreds of New Mexico residents saw a spectacular green fireball. Kirtland AFB immediately notified Washington and organized an investigation. La Paz managed a rough triangulation of the object, and estimated its speed at between 25,000 and 50,000 mph. This should have caused an “ear-shattering” sonic boom. Instead, the object was totally silent. The sighting gave La Paz more ammunition: he subsequently told Air Force Office of Special Investigations Agent Paul Ryan that the objects were “surely artificial.” Of course, that begs the question: to whom did they belong?23
On January 31, the FBI issued a memo on UFOs, titled “Protection of Vital Installations.” The classified document was sent to Hoover, the Army’s G-2, the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Office of Special Investigations, and mentioned a meeting among these groups concerning UFOs. The key statement of the document:
