Date
October 28, 1947
Document Type
Intel Collection Directive
Pages
6
Authentication
DeclassifiedRedaction Status
▐ Partially RedactedIssuing Authority
Brigadier General George F. Schulgen, Army Air Forces, Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence
Summary
A collection memorandum drafted by Brigadier General George Schulgen distributing technical intelligence collection requirements for 'flying saucer' reports to U.S. Army Air Forces field offices. Written 35 days after the Twining Memo, it provides detailed technical descriptions of reported objects and instructs intelligence officers on what specific data to collect. It describes the objects in strikingly sophisticated terms for 1947, referencing metallic construction, potential nuclear propulsion, and flight characteristics suggesting advanced technology. The document demonstrates that the military was engaged in systematic technical intelligence collection on UAP from the earliest weeks after the phenomenon was first formally documented.
Significance
The Schulgen Memo is significant because it treats UAP as a technical intelligence problem, not a public relations problem. The technical sophistication of the collection requirements suggests the Army Air Forces were genuinely concerned about a technological capability, whether foreign or otherwise unknown. It also establishes that the early official UAP response was more serious and structured than the dismissive public posture later adopted by Project Blue Book.