Albert M. Chop

The interview with Albert M. Chop can be read here: Transcription

Albert M. Chop began his career as a newspaper reporter in Dayton, Ohio. Following World War II he went to work for the Press Section of the Air Material Command (AMC) at Wright-Patterson AFB.

Chop was initially very skeptical of UFOs, but after being promoted to Chief of the Press Section at AMC he had a change of mind. By then he had an opportunity to talk to top government officials who had become convinced that many UFO sightings represented very real craft of unknown origin. In 1952 Air Force Public Relations Office Chief Colonel DeWitt Searles, at the request of General Samford and General Sory Smith of the Office of Public Information at the Defense Department, transferred Chop from Dayton to the Pentagon's Press Section in Washington, DC to assist with media inquiries concerning UFOs.

Chop was present in the radar control room at Washington National Airport on the night of 26 July 1952, when numerous UFOs were tracked on radar in restricted airspace, and jet interceptors were scrambled. In 1956 his UFO project involvement became the subject of the feature-length motion picture "Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers."

This interview was conducted at Mr. Chop's home in Palm Desert, California. He passed on 15 January 2006.