ever.

Two or three weeks after the meeting of the panel of scientists in
Washington I received word that Project Blue Book would follow the
recommendations that the panel had made. I was to start implementing
the plan right away. Our proposal for setting up instruments had gone
to the Pentagon weeks before, so that was already taken care of. We
needed more people, so I drew up a new organizational cable that
called for more investigators and analysts and sent it through to
ATIC's personnel section.

About this time in the history of the UFO the first of a series of
snags came up. The scientists had strongly recommended that we hold
nothing back--give the public everything. Accordingly, when the press
got wind of the Tremonton Movie, which up until this time had been a
closely guarded secret, I agreed to release it for the newsmen to
see. I wrote a press release which was O.K.'d by General Garland,
then the chief of ATIC, and sent it to the Pentagon. It told what the
panel had said about the movies, "until proved otherwise there is no
reason why the UFO's couldn't have been sea gulls." Then the release
went on to say that we weren't sure exactly what the UFO's were, the
sea gull theory was only an opinion. When the Pentagon got the draft
of the release they screamed, "No!" No movie for the press and no
press release. The sea gull theory was too weak, and we had a new
publicity policy as of now--don't say anything.

This policy, incidentally, is still in effect. The January 7, 1955,
issue of the _Air_ _Force_ _Information_ _Services_ _Letter_ said, in
essence, people in the Air Force are talking too much about UFO's--
shut up. The old theory that if you ignore them they'll go away is
again being followed.

Inside of a month the UFO project took a few more hard jolts. In
December of 1952 I'd asked for a transfer. I'd agreed to stay on as
chief of Blue Book until the end of February so that a replacement
could be obtained and be broken in. But no replacement showed up. And
none showed up when Lieutenant Rothstien's tour of active duty ended,
when Lieutenant Andy Flues transferred to the Alaskan Air Command, or
when others left. When I left the UFO project for a two-month tour of
temporary duty in Denver, Lieutenant Bob Olsson took over as chief.
His staff consisted of Airman First Class Max Futch. Both men were
old veterans of the UFO campaign of '52, but two people can do only
so much.

When I came back to ATIC in