ATTEMPTED INTERCEPTS AND NEAR MISSES
While Ruppelt busied himself reactivating Project Grudge, the UFO party continued. On September 23 at March AFB near Long Beach, California, two F-86 jets tried to intercept an object in controlled orbit at around fifty-five thousand feet, but they ran low on fuel and had to land. Two more F-86s were scrambled, with the same results. Three of the pilots reported seeing a “silver airplane with highly swept-back wings,” although one of them said the UFO looked round and silver. Regardless, in 1951 the U.S. had no plane that could fly higher than the F-86.79 Encounters continued during October and November. In Korea, fourteen American ships tracked an object on radar as it circled the fleet, then departed at over 1,000 mph.80
Amid this renewed surge of sightings, the new Project Grudge was officially established on October 27. Before reporting directly to General Cabell on his method of operation, Ruppelt decided to try out his ideas on some “well-known scientists and engineers” who regularly visited ATIC. He learned that “UFOs were being freely and seriously discussed in scientific circles.” On or around December 11, Ruppelt traveled with ATIC Chief Frank Dunn to the Pentagon. Maj. Gen. John A. Samford had replaced Cabell as air force director of intelligence but seemed “familiar with the general aspects of the problem.” Samford’s aide, Gen. W M. Garland, told the two that ATIC had the sole authorization to carry out UFO investigations for the entire U.S. military—a statement that Garland in no way could have meant to be true. He also told Ruppelt and Dunn unequivocally that the United States had no secret aircraft, or other device, which was being reported as a UFO. The three discussed security problems posed by UFOs at vital U.S. installations.81
SUMMARY
For three years the UFO problem was managed by the American military and intelligence community with only limited interference from its citizenry. True, by 1951 that interference was greater than it had been in 1948, but thanks largely to an acquiescent media, it still posed little of a problem. The UFOs themselves were more intractable. While many in the military honestly believed them to be nonsense, many others—usually expressing their opinions discreetly—did not. A large number of UFO sightings lent credence to their existence as real objects, and the American military seemed helpless to prevent them from doing as they pleased, such as violating sensitive airspace and appearing over areas where multiple witnesses could see them.
This period also provided scattered evidence that a select group of men from scientific, military, and intelligence circles supervised or monitored the activities at ATIC. It is not known whether this group answered to the president or another individual. It does seem clear, however, that they took the UFO problem more seriously than official pronouncements at ATIC indicated. Less apparent is whether they had any plan for dealing with it.
Chapter 4
Crisis and Containment: 1952 and 1953
The object possessed a superior speed, superior climbing ability, and was able to turn equally well as the F-94.
... indicates an actual appearance of “unidentified flying objects.”
The Air Force has had teams of experts investigating all reports for several years, since the end of World War II, and they have never found anything to substantiate the existence of such things as flying saucers.
Absolute power has no necessity to lie, it may be silent—while responsible governments obliged to speak not only disguise the truth, but lie with effrontery.
OVERVIEW OF THE YEAR
