"It is high official policy to lie to our citizens." — Admiral Hillenkoetter's 1960 warning to the public.
“High-Ranking Air Force Officers are Soberly Concerned”: The 1960 NYT Bombshell
On February 28, 1960, the New York Times published an article that sent shockwaves through the Pentagon and the scientific community. Vice Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, who had served as the first Director of the CIA under President Truman, made a stunning public admission: the Air Force was not being honest with the American people about Unidentified Flying Objects. Hillenkoetter, then a member of the Board of Governors for NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena), declared that “the unknown flying objects are operating under intelligent control” and that it was imperative to learn their purpose.
This wasn’t the speculation of a “saucer buff,” but the calculated warning of a man who had held the highest intelligence clearance in the United States. Hillenkoetter’s statement directly challenged the Air Force’s official stance that UFOs were merely misidentifications or hoaxes. He revealed that “behind the scenes,” high-ranking military officials were deeply worried about the phenomena, even as they used “official secrecy and ridicule” to lead the public to believe the objects were nonsense. This article remains one of the most credible “insider” endorsements of the UFO reality in history
AIR FORCE ORDER ON ‘SAUCERS’ CITED
Pamphlet by the Inspector General Called Objects a ‘Serious Business’
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) — The Air Force has sent its commands a warning to treat sightings of unidentified flying objects as “serious business” directly related to the nation’s defense, it was learned today.
An Air Force spokesman confirmed issuance of the directive after portions of it were made public by a private “flying saucer” group.
The new regulations were issued by the Air Force inspector general Dec. 24.
The regulations, revising similar ones issued in the past, outlined procedures and said that “investigations and analysis of UFO’s are directly related to the Air Force’s responsibility for the defense of the United States”.
Committee Reveals Document
Existence of the document was revealed by the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena.
The privately financed committee accused the Air Force of deception in publicly describing reports of unidentified flying objects as delusions and hoaxes while sending the private admonition to its commands.
Vice Admiral R. H. Hillenkoetter (Ret.), a committee board member and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said in a statement that a copy of the inspector general’s warning had been sent to the Senate Science and Astronautics Committee.
“It is time for the truth to be brought out in open Congressional hearings,” he said.
The Air Force confirmed that the document had been issued.
A spokesman said it was put out by Maj. Gen. Richard E. O’Keefe, acting inspector general at the time, to call attention to revised Air Force regulations concerning unidentified flying objects.
The statement was included in an “operations and training” pamphlet circulated at intervals to bring commands up to date.
Pentagon aides said the new regulations covering seven printed pages, made no substantive change in policy but had been rewritten as a matter of course.
The Air Force has investigated 6,312 reports of flying objects since 1947, including 183 in the last six months of 1959. The latest Air Force statement, issued a month ago said “no physical or material evidence, not even a minute fragment of a so-called flying saucer, has ever been found”.
Admiral Hillenkoetter said that “behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFO’s”.
“But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense,” the retired admiral said. He charged that “to hide the facts, the Air Force has silenced its personnel” through the issuance of a regulation.
The 1960 report highlights Hillenkoetter’s push for a Congressional investigation into UFOs—a move the Air Force consistently opposed. The Admiral argued that the Air Force’s “exclusive official authority” to investigate sightings allowed them to silence personnel and “lied by plan” to maintain a cover story. He pointed to the U-2 incident as a parallel, suggesting that just as the government lied about secret spy planes being “weather planes,” they were using similar “push-button” replies to dismiss sightings of craft with capabilities far exceeding U.S. or Soviet technology.
This summary explores the friction between the fledgling CIA and the Air Force’s Project Blue Book. Hillenkoetter’s testimony was fueled by his conviction that these objects were neither American nor Russian inventions, speaking with a knowledge “possessed by few other citizens.” The post details how his public stance aimed to end the era of “ridicule” and force the military to treat UFOs as a legitimate national security concern. It stands as a pivotal moment where the first head of the CIA essentially accused the military of a systematic campaign of disinformation against its own citizens.
About the Author
