On a flight to Los Angeles, a TransWorld Airlines pilot reported dodging an Unidentified Flying Object to avoid a head-on collision. A FAA control-tower operator reported tracking four UFOs at 3,600 miles per hour, one over an Air Force base. From the Far East, an F-86 jet pilot reported chasing a huge saucer. Such accounts are not unusual. Air Force files contain over 6,300 cases of saucer sightings, some of them still top secret. They include statements from airline pilots verifying simultaneous sightings by as many as four different aircraft; records of unexplained crashes of pursuit planes which took off to investigate UFOs that appeared on radar screens; reports of jet planes firing on saucers.

Most cases of saucer sightings however never reach the general public. An Air Force policy of secrecy, backed by stiff security regulations, prevents the dissemination of information about UFOs. Cases which do receive public attention have been explained away or denied and witnesses discredited. As a result, observers are reluctant to report sightings and most newspapers have printed only the official Air Force line that UFOs don’t exist.

Air Force policy has been opposed on occasion by private individuals, but its most effective opponent from the 1950s to the 1970s, was the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, a private organization devoted to the study of Unidentified Flying Objects. The story of NICAP’s fight to crack the wall of secrecy around the government’s flying saucer investigation during that time is revealed in FLYING SAUCERS: TOP SECRET. It documents the Air Force’s contradictory statements about its secrecy policy, NICAP’s efforts to get reports of UFO sightings from both the government and private sources, and the efforts of the Air Force to silence flying saucer observers.

Donald Edward Keyhoe (1897-1988) was a Marine Corps Major, manager of the promotional tours of aviation pioneers (such as Charles Lindbergh), and writer of UFO books.

He wrote in his Foreword to the 1960 book called Flying Saucers: Top Secret, “Today, as we prepare to explore outer space, our leading astronomers agree that millions of other worlds must exist, and that some may have civilizations farther advanced than our own. In 1959, the United States Government accepted this belief, setting up an official station to listen for possible messages from nearby solar systems. There is now full proof—despite strong efforts to hide the fact—that the earth is under close observation by one of more of these advanced worlds. Since the explanation of the first A-bomb, hundreds of officially verified reports, by pilots and other technically trained observers, have proved that intelligently controlled machines, superior to any earth-made craft, are systematically exploring our planet… these strange machines have been seen in increasing numbers, in direct proportion to our atomic bomb tests and the launching of artificial satellites and space probes.

“Publicly, the official attitude is still one of debunking the ‘saucers’ and explaining away sightings—a policy made possible by military secrecy orders. But behind the scenes, a far different attitude exists, as shown by the evidence in this book. Further proof… is shown by the official instructions of the Air Force Inspector General to Operations and Training commands. On December 24, 1959, under the heading, UFOS SERIOUS BUSINESS, the Inspector General gave these directions regarding UFO reports: ‘Unidentified flying objects… must be rapidly and accurately identified as serious USAF business…’”

He recounts, “in Room 350 of the Senate Office Building, I met Chief Investigator Healey… ‘Before we go ahead,’ he told me, ‘we need a formal complaint. Does NICAP [National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena] definitely charge the Air Force with hiding UFO information?’ ‘Yes—Air Force Headquarters. Many people in the Air Force are against the secrecy. I think the policy is set higher up.’ … ‘Exactly what does NICAP claim they have hidden?’ … ‘Air Force Headquarters has muzzled hundreds of pilots and other UFO witnesses… they’ve denied all the official sightings in World War II. They know the UFOs are real, and to cover up they’ve misled the press, the public—even congressmen.’” (Pg. 81-82)

After recounting a series of sightings, Keyhoe states, “Out of these 244 cases… more than half the answers are admittedly sheer speculation. Most of the others are deliberately fitted answers… It’s even worse now. Back in ’53, Project Blue Book scientists and Intelligence officers admitted that a lot of cases simply couldn’t be explained. They evaluated 3,801 cases, from 1947 to the end of ’52. Here’s the answer…’ ‘Unknown, 689—21.5 per cent. And all those are still unsolved?’ ‘That’s correct. They have given up trying to explain them…’ ‘Then how do they dare claim all but 3 per cent are solved?’ ‘They don’t. You were misled like the press…’” (Pg. 91)

A friend named Henry Brennard observed, “‘Several space experts have predicted we’ll eventually travel at nearly the speed of light. And according to Einstein, that means time would just about stand still…Then why couldn’t UFOs come from a far-off galaxy in a very short time?’ ‘With some revolutionary propulsion system, they could. But they could never go back to their own world.’ … ‘Why not? If they could navigate out, they could navigate back.’ ‘Yes, but they’d never go back to their own world.’” (Pg. 148-149)

He recounts a conversation with Reverend Kenneth R. Hoffmann and his wife, who had reported a UFO sighting: ‘I asked if the UFO sighting had affected their religious beliefs. ‘You mean as evidence of other worlds?’ asked Mrs. Hoffmann. ‘No, it has made no difference to me.’ ‘Nor to me,’ said Reverend Hoffmann. ‘I can accept the existence of other planets with intelligent beings. Why should we question God’s power to create other worlds in the Universe?’” (Pg. 207)

He includes a letter to himself from C.G. Jung, who wrote, “I am grateful for all the courageous things you have done in elucidating the thorny problem of UFO-reality… My special preoccupation does neither preclude the physical reality of the UFOs, nor their extraterrestrial origin, nor the purposefulness of their behavior, etc. But I do not possess sufficient evidence which would enable me to draw definite conclusions. The evidence available to me however is convincing enough to arouse a fervent interest. I follow with my greatest sympathy your exploits and your endeavors to establish the truth about the UFOs… If it is true that the [American Air Force] or the government withholds tell-taling facts, then one can only say that this is the most unpsychological and stupid policy one could invent. Nothing helps rumors and panics more than ignorance. It is self-evident that the public ought to be told the truth, because ultimately it will nevertheless come to the daylight. There could hardly be any greater shock than the H-bomb and yet anybody knows of it without fainting.” (Pg. 235-236)

He says of Captain Edward Ruppelt, “we had heard increasing rumors that Captain Ruppelt, under tremendous pressure, would revise the ending of his 1956 book, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. According to the wilder rumors, he was being forced—or strongly persuaded—to make a rightabout face, ridiculing all UFO witnesses and believers. Earlier, I would have denounced the stories, but now I had serous doubts. For in 1958 Ruppelt had written a NICAP member an amazing letter: ‘I have visited Project Blue Book since 1953 and am now convinced that the reports of UFOs are nothing more than reports of balloons, aircraft, astronomical phenomena, etc. I don’t believe they are anything from outer space.’ … I wrote him an open letter listing all the key points where he was on record: His exposure of the Air Force cover-up, the secret conclusions, the unexplained, dramatic cases… But the months had gone by, with no word from Ruppelt.” (Pg. 258-260)

He adds that writer Frank Edwards called him: “‘I’ve just read an advance copy of Ruppelt’s revised book—he rewrote the last three chapters. It’s absolutely incredible. Now he sneers at people he formerly labeled expert witnesses. He plays up the wildest contact stories—completely backs the Air Force party line.’ ‘Poor Ed,’ I said. ‘I wonder what they did, to make him do this.’ ‘The writing doesn’t even sound like him,’ said Edwards. ‘And he takes sarcastic cracks at serious investigators, especially NICAP and you.’ ‘That shows he was forced into it, Frank. I remember how he felt honored to be invited to join the [NICAP] Board—he put it in a letter.’” (Pg. 260)

Later, he and Edwards conversed, and Edwards told him: ‘even if there were something pretty bad, no government agency has the right to keep it hidden.’ ‘Besides,’ I added, ‘… Telling the public would force a crash program for a defense—and it might well succeed… Of course, some people… have told me they’d rather not know if there’s any real danger.’ Edwards [asked me] ‘How do you feel?’ …’No matter what it is, Frank, I want to know what they’re hiding.’ ‘So do I.’” (Pg. 282-283)

Donald E. Keyhoe is little remembered today by many too young to have seen him on TV (which I did on numerous occasions), but to those who have followed the subject of ufology he is the REAL Father of research on the subject long before Stanton Friedman came along. (I have talked to Stan and admire him, just so no one thinks I am trying to trivialize his contributions to the field, of which there are many).

Keyhoe fought the fight against UFO secrecy, the Air Force and the government long before anyone else did. He was and is THE legend in the field.

He did have allies in his fight like Ed Ruppelt and Frank Edwards. If memory serves me correctly, he can also be seen being interviewed on the great Long John Nebel program on DVDs which can be found on the net.

One of the interesting things about him is that he goes into cases that were debunked at the time by officials and even mentions cases that were seemingly never properly investigated (both then and now) like a UFO crash in 1954 in Montana. Even the people at the local paper hadn’t heard of that one and they are trying to do some preliminary investigation for me from their files of back issues.

There are many intercepts of UFOs by military aircraft that remain unexplained including the total disappearance without any debris of a fighter jet sent to investigate a UFO over a restricted area on Lake Michigan.The plane disappeared off the radar and no wreckage could ever be found nor could the disappearance be explained by the Air Force and other authorities.

Keyhoe died a somewhat broken man after he was forced out of the leadership of NICAP by a cabal associated closely with the CIA.

There are those who state that the reason for this was to destroy the credibility and influence of NICAP which was effectively run by Keyhoe and had been the USAF’S chief antagonist on the UFO subject and supposed cover up of the truth behind the scenes for years.

Full pdf book download available here.