c, early in the life of the project, to that of complete contempt
for anyone who even mentioned the words "flying saucer."

This contemptuous attitude toward "flying saucer nuts" prevailed
from mid-1949 to mid-1950. During that interval many of the people
who were, or had been, associated with the project believed that the
public was suffering from "war nerves."

Early in 1950 the project, for all practical purposes, was closed
out; at least it rated only minimum effort. Those in power now
reasoned that if you didn't mention the words "flying saucers" the
people would forget them and the saucers would go away. But this
reasoning was false, for instead of vanishing, the UFO reports got
better and better.

Airline pilots, military pilots, generals, scientists, and dozens of
other people were reporting UFO's, and in greater detail than in
reports of the past. Radars, which were being built for air defense,
began to pick up some very unusual targets, thus lending technical
corroboration to the unsubstantiated claims of human observers.

As a result of the continuing accumulation of more impressive UFO
reports, official interest stirred. Early in 1951 verbal orders came
down from Major General Charles P. Cabell, then Director of
Intelligence for Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, to make a study
reviewing the UFO situation for Air Force Headquarters.

I had been back in the Air Force about six months when this
happened. During the second world war I had been a B-29 bombardier
and radar operator. I went to India, China, and later to the Pacific,
with the original B-29 wing. I flew two DCF's, and some Air Medals'
worth of missions, got out of the Air Force after the war, and went
back to college. To keep my reserve status while I was in school, I
flew as a navigator in an Air Force Reserve Troop Carrier Wing.

Not long after I received my degree in aeronautical engineering, the
Korean War started, and I went back on active duty. I was assigned to
the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, in Dayton, Ohio. ATIC is responsible for keeping track of all
foreign aircraft and guided missiles. ATIC also had the UFO project.

I had just finished organizing a new intelligence group when General
Cabell's order to review past UFO reports came down. Lieutenant
Colonel Rosengarten, who received the order at ATIC, called me in and
wanted to know if I'd take the job of making the review. I accepted.

When t