History of the United States Air Force UFO Programs 21

5. Project Grudge

Air Force policy shifted dramatically to downplay the issue, and effectively put an end to UFO reports. Following the showdown in Washington, Project Sign personnel and even top people in the intelligence division, were transferred or reassigned. New staff operated on the premise that all reports could be conventionally explained.29 In February 1949 the project was even given a new name, Project Grudge, and by August issued a voluminous technical report, concluding:

2. Reports of unidentified flying objects are the result of:

a. Misinterpretations of various conventional objects.

b. A mild form of mass-hysteria and war nerves.

c. Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetuate a hoax or to seek publicity.

d. Psychopathological persons.

3. Planned release of unusual aerial objects coupled with the release of related psychological propaganda could cause mass hysteria.

a. Employment of these methods by or against an enemy would yield similar results.30

Though the report concludes that UFOs “constitute no direct threat to the national security of the United States,” it also pointed out that foreign enemies could employ public apprehension about UFOs for psychological-warfare purposes. By this time, at least internally (publicly it was far easier to prove UFOs didn’t exist), the Pentagon reasoning had come around to an admission that, as the probability of “foreign devices becomes more remote, . . . there are many incidents reported by reliable and competent observers which are still unexplained.” Adding, “it seems unlikely that a foreign power would expose superiority of power by a prolonged ineffectual penetration of the United States.” The Pentagon position was crystallized by an opinion from its Office of Psychological Warfare that fed directly into cold war fears. The flying disks could be used for purposes of psychological-warfare, especially for creating mass hysteria.31

This way, the Air Force hoped to disengage itself from the public side of the controversy, but throughout 1950 attempts to terminate the project proved ineffective—while Project Grudge lapsed into nearly complete inactivity.

6. Project Bluebook ››