How Closely Are Ufologists Watched By Government Agencies?
by Nick Redfern May 25, 2018 (mysteriousuniverse.org)
• Beginning in the 1950’s, the FBI and the CIA closely kept their eye on UFO-themed researchers, groups and abductees such as George Adamski, Truman Bethurum, George Van Tassel, and Frank Stranges. They seemed more interested in their possible ties to communism than their UFO experiences. In 1950’s England, the British Police Force’s Special Branch secretly watched the Aetherius Society, but not for their beliefs in aliens or UFOs, but because of their opposition to atomic weapons.
• A CIA document dated February 9, 1953 reveals that an agent infiltrated a meeting of the California Committee for Saucer Investigations (CSI) in L.A. where Dr. Walter Riedel, the former Chief Designer at the German Experimental Rocket Center at Peenemunde who came to the U.S. as a ‘paperclip’ scientist spoke. Reidel was now a project engineer in the Aerophysics Department of the North American Aviation Corp. “He [Reidel] gave every impression of being a competent scientist, especially knowledgeable on rocket matters. He seemed a balanced person, not given to fixations.”
• The CIA document goes on to say that the CSI had received some 1570 letters relating to reported UFO sightings. The agent was impressed at how thorough they conducted their investigations, considering only a small fraction of sightings to be actual unexplained UFOs. Those are forwarded to Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio.
• Dr. Riedel even indicated the CSI planned to perpetrate a ‘hoax’ UFO sighting over Malibu in front of thousands of people in order to gauge public reaction and response. “This experiment is designed to give a better background against which future sightings can be evaluated.” This hoax may have occurred in late January 1953.
• The CIA agent also reported that the CSI monitored the Russian newspaper, PRAVDA, and that a CSI associate, George P. Sutton, also of Aerophysics Department in North American Aviation, Inc., gave a presentation before the American Rocket Society in New York City on December 4, 1952 entitled ‘Rockets Behind the Iron Curtain.’
• Of incidental interest, the National Aeronautical Association politely suggested to Dr. Riedel that he disassociate himself with the California Committee for Saucer Investigations.
• [Editor’s Note] For a thorough discussion of former Nazi rocket scientists’ corporate incursion into the United States military industrial complex during the 1950’s read Dr Michael Salla’s latest book, Antarctica’s Hidden History – Corporate Foundations of Secret Space Programs.
That’s a question I’m often asked, mainly because of my interest in the Men in Black mystery. Although there is no doubt in my mind that the vast majority of all MIB encounters are of a paranormal nature, at least a small number are connected to government agencies. Indeed, there is hard evidence showing that UFO-themed researchers and groups have been watched – and at times watched closely. For example, the FBI has released its files on many of the Contactees of the 1950s, such as George Adamski, Truman Bethurum, George Van Tassel, and Frank Stranges. It’s important to note, though, that the UFO aspects of the investigations were secondary; sometimes, even further down the line than that. Issues relative to politics and communism were far more pressing, from the FBI’s perspective. In the U.K., in the late 1950s, the Aetherius Society was secretly watched by the British Police Force’s Special Branch. Not for their beliefs in aliens or UFOs, though, but because of their stance on atomic weapons.
With that all said, it’s time now to take a look at one of the earliest UFO research groups that was watched by the CIA: the Civilian Saucer Investigation (although in some of the CIA’s papers on the CSI, it’s incorrectly referred to as the California Committee for Saucer Investigation). A CIA document of February 9, 1953 begins as follows (you can find the document at this CIA link):
“1. Recently a member of the Los Angeles Office had occasion to hear Dr. Walter Riedel tell something of the activities of the California Committee for Saucer Investigations (CSI). His comments, as follows, may be of interest: 2. Dr. Riedel indicated he was formerly Chief Designer at the German Experimental Rocket Center at Peenemunde. He has been in the US as a ‘paperclip’ scientist for some years. He is now a Project engineer in the Aerophysics Department (Guided Missiles) of the North American Aviation Corp. He gave every impression of being a competent scientist, especially knowledgeable on rocket matters. He seemed a balanced person, not given to fixations.”
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