DOW-UAP-D085: Transmission of CIA Scientific Advisory Panel Report (1953)

Official - DeclassifiedMilitary Memo1953
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Date

1953

Document Type

Military Memo

Authentication

Official - Declassified

Redaction Status

Partially Redacted

Issuing Authority

Department of War — Office of the Secretary of Defense (transmitting CIA Robertson Panel findings)

Summary

Department of War/Defense document transmitting the findings of the CIA's Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects (the Robertson Panel, January 1953) to relevant military commands. This document represents the formal chain of custody for the Robertson Panel's controversial conclusions, including its recommendation to debunk UFO reports and train civilian groups to monitor them — directives that shaped official UAP policy for two subsequent decades.

Significance

Documents the formal transmission of the Robertson Panel's debunking directives to military commands. The Robertson Panel recommended both active UFO debunking and surveillance of civilian UFO research organizations like NICAP and APRO — policies transmitted through this memo that constitute the bureaucratic foundation of UFO secrecy from 1953 onward.