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Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0 SECTION V PILOTS & AVIATION EXPERTS If UFOs had not been reported by pilots of scheduled air- liners, and military pilots in operation all over the globe, there might be some justification in writing off reports of ground ob- servers as mistaken observations. For, if unknown objects are maneuvering in our skies, pilots would be among the most likely to see them. (Others whose professions cause them to spend many hours watching the skies, such as General Mills Corporation balloon trackers, also have reported numerous UFOs. /[1}) Airline and military pilots are among the most experienced observers of the sky. Their profession requires them to spend hundreds of hours per year inthe air. Few, if any, occupations require more practical knowledge of weather, other aircraft, and unusual activity such as missile tests. Undoubtedly, few groups of observers have seen more meteors or watched planets under a wider variety of sky conditions. In addition, professional pilots normally are trained in rapid identification of anything which may endanger a flight. Therefore, it is significant that airline and military pilots have reported a large number of totally unexplained UFO sightings. Recognizing that airline pilots have special training and are in a unique position for observation, the Defense Department in- cludes them in the military system of reporting vital intelligence sightings (CIRVIS), as detailed in the Joint Chiefs regulation JANAP-146(D). [See Section [X.] In 1954, the groundwork for CIRVIS reports was laid by meetings between representatives of the airlines and Military Air Transport Service (MATS) intelli- gence branch. The reason? ‘‘The nation’s 8,500 commercial airline pilots have been seeing a lot of unusual objects while flying at night, here and overseas,’’ Scripps-Howard reported. “But,’”’? the report continued, ‘‘there hasn’t been much of an or- ganized system of reporting to military authorities. . . [the air- lines and MATS] agreed to organize a speedy reporting system so that a commercial pilot spotting strange objects could send the word to the Air Force ina hurry. The Air Force could then send jet fighters to investigate.”’ [2] With a few exceptions, most UFO reports on record from military pilots have come from the World War II and Korean War eras, or from recently retired officers. Military pilots, naturally, are restricted from discussing the sightings freely while they are on active duty. But airline pilots (althoughin recent years some- times under pressure from their companies not to discuss sightings) have contributed some of the best reports on record. There had been scattered reports by airline pilots previously but ‘‘In the Spring of 1950,’’ the former Chief of the Air Force UFO project reported, ‘‘the airline pilots beganto make more and more reports -- good reports. . . In April, May, and June of 1950 there were over thirty-five good reports from airline crews.”’ [3] That June, Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker said in an interview: “Flying saucers are real, Too many good men have seen them, that don’t have hallucinations.’’ Flying magazine, July 1950, published a roundup report on pilot sightings, giving them very serious treatment (as did other aviation journals in later years; for example, see RAF Flying Review, July 1957). When NICAP was formed in 1956, four airline pilots (two of whom had personally sighted UFOs) joined the NICAP Panel of Special Advisers. Federal Aviation Agency personnel, aviation industry engineers, and other aviation experts also related their sightings and offered their services. Why are UFOs taken so seriously by professional pilots and aviation experts? WHAT THE PILOTS HAVE SEEN This chart lists over 100 UFO sightings by pilots (AL=Airline pilot; M=Military; P=Private), the majority of whom reported typical geometrical objects such as discs and ellipses. The resulting patterns of the observations, and their strong similarity to reports by other reliable witnesses, are readily apparent. Code Date Location Witness Description M 8-10-44 Sumatra Capt. A.M. Reida, Spherical object with halo paced B-29 during mis- USAF bomber pilot sion; maneuvered sharply, climbed away vertically. [Section III] M 12-44 Austria Maj. W.D. Leet, Amber disc followed B-17 across Austria. USAF bomber pilot [Section III] M 8-1-46 nr Tampa, Fla. Capt. Jack Puckett, Cigar with "portholes'' approached C-47 head-on, USAF 4-engine pilot veered across path. [Section II] Pp 6-24-47 Mt. Ranier, Wash. Kenneth Arnold, Nine flat shiny objects in line, zig-zagged. businessman, pilot 4] AL 7-4-47 nr Portland, Capt. E.J. Smith, Two groups of discs. Oregon United Airlines; Ralph Stevens, Co-pilot M 1-6-47 Fairfield-Suisan Pilot (name deleted UFO sped across sky "oscillating on lateral axis." AFB, Calif. by Air Force) 5 M 7-8-47 nr Los Angeles, F-51 pilot (name de- Flat, light-reflecting UFO passed above fighter. Calif. leted by Air Force) [6] P 7-9-47 nr Boise, Idaho Dave Johnson, pilot Large disc, maneuvered erratically. (Section VII) & aviation editor; others on ground M 8-47 Media, Pa. W. Boyce, USAF Hovering disc. [7] fighter pilot Approved For Release 2001/04/02 8CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0