Marilyn Monroe UFO Mystery - Government Cover-Up

Marilyn Monroe UFO Mystery - Government Cover-Up

1952 - YEAR OF THE UFO 

FIFTY YEARS AGO, during the most amazing flap of flying saucer sightings in the USA (and the world), the Air Force ALMOST admitted that at least some sightings of UFOs/saucers were sightings of objects not made here. However, when that opportunity arose during a large press conference in late July, instead of admitting that the Air Force couldn't explain all sightings and that some "high officials" were seriously considering the "interplanetary hypothesis," the Air Force (General Samford) said everything could be explained as natural phenomena, effectively slamming the lid down on the UFO subject. But what the Air Force said privately was a different matter. This report tells the story of what happened in that amazing year.

Pre-History

The world became aware of flying saucer sightings in the summer of 1947 with the nationwide/worldwide publication of the report by Kenneth Arnold on June 24. In the subsequent weeks hundreds to thousands of sightings were reported in the local press throughout the USA and in other parts of the world. The Air Force quickly became involved because some of the AF pilots (and many commercial pilots) were also witnesses. The Air Force quickly and publicly denied having any secret projects that could account for UFO sightings. This denial was made privately to the director of the FBI at a time when the AF asked the FBI to investigate sightings (yes, there was an "X" file). The FBI found no evidence of communist subversive activities or communist sympathizers involved in saucer sightings and stopped actively investigating in the fall of 1947. The Air Force carried on, however, compiling collections of sighting reports by AF pilots and other qualified observers. By the fall of 1947 the Air Force Air Materiel Command (AMC) at Wright Field (Wright Patterson Air Force Base) had concluded that flying saucers were "real and not visionary" (statement in a report by General Nathan Twining, head of AMC at the time) and required a special investigation group to determine what they were and where they came from. In early 1948 the investigation group, called PROJECT SIGN was set up.

By late 1947 the official position of the Air Force, that there was no unknown phenomenon causing flying saucer/UFO sightings, was well known and generally accepted by the scientific community and the major news media. Witnesses were often criticized or made the butt of jokes for reporting "impossible things." Nevertheless, sighting reports continued beyond 1947. Agencies responsible for security around nuclear power and atomic bomb installations were startled by sightings near secure areas starting in late 1948 and continuing through 1949 and 1950 ("green fireball" sightings and associated phenomena). In 1950 a special project (TWINKLE) managed to obtain film of unidentified, high speed, high altitude objects flying over White Sands. This evidence was rejected and/or suppressed.

In late 1949 the Air Force issued a "final report" (the GRUDGE Report) which claimed that all sightings to that time had been explained. This report was later criticized by the General in charge of Air Force Intelligence (AFI), General Cabell, who called it worthless as "tripe." Nevertheless, it became the official word of the Air Force and the American people were told that the AF had closed its saucer investigation. It had not, however, as GRUDGE continued into 1951.

In the fall of 1951 General Cabell became aware of a publicized sighting (at Fort Monmouth, NJ) which interested him because it involved radar. He asked for a briefing on the investigation of that case. At the briefing he was told that, for all practical purposes, the saucer/UFO investigation project was dead. At the very least it was not following his earlier instructions to investigate all sightings. Cabell was angry. He realized that those under him had lied about the project. He ordered that the project be reorganized and revitalized under new management.

This reorganization, which began in the fall of 1951 under the direction of Capt. Edward Ruppelt, was underway at the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright Patterson AFB when 1952 "hit." The name of the project was changed in March, 1952, to BLUE BOOK, a name that became famous as the years went by. Ruppelt was the director from late 1951 through 1953. It was the most unbiased, scientifically-oriented and publicly known UFO investigation by the Air Force. (It is likely that there were other investigations which were not, and are still not publicly known.)

The Air Force officers and personnel who continued PROJECT BLUE BOOK after Ruppelt were not as unbiased as Ruppelt and the scientific quality of the project deteriorated in the following years. (BLUE BOOK was formally closed in 1969 after collecting and about 13,000 sightings of which about 700 were left as unexplained.) PROJECT BLUE BOOK was just getting underway and was ill equipped to handle the Year of the UFO. Nevertheless, the information collected during that time has lived on as a great mystery. We are left asking, what really happened and why did the Air Force cover it up?

ENTER, 1952, THE YEAR OF THE UFO

A whole UFO book could be written about this one year, during which ATIC received about two thousand sighting reports! What I present here will only scratch the surface of that amazing year.

During the latter half of 1951 there were important changes in the UFO project at ATIC and also in Air Force Intelligence at the Pentagon. In November, General John A. Samford replaced General Cabell as Director of Intelligence (Cabell became the Director of the Joint Staff for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon and a year or so later retired from the Air force and became an assistant director of the CIA). The new Air Force Intelligence Director soon learned that that the subject of UFOs received top level attention. There was also a change at ATIC: Col. Frank Dunn replaced the previous command (Col. Watson). At the first meeting between Dunn and the New GRUDGE (soon to be BLUE BOOK) staff (Ruppelt), Dunn asked Samford if the United States had a secret weapon that could explain the saucer sightings. Once again the answer was a firm no.

THE GENERAL'S SAUCER

On January 3, 1952, Brig. Gen. William M. Garland, Assistant for the Production of Intelligence, wrote a memorandum for General Samford with the title “(SECRET) Contemplated Action to Determine the Nature and Origin of the Phenomena Connected with the Reports of Unusual Flying Objects.” This memorandum begins as follows:

1. The continued reports of unusual flying objects requires positive action to determine the nature and origin of the phenomena. The action taken thus far has been designed to track down and evaluate reports from casual observers throughout the country. Thus far, this action has produced results of doubtful value and the inconsistencies inherent in the nature of the reports has given neither positive nor negative proof of the claims.

Here we find a general in Air Force Intelligence (AFI) admitting that there was no negative proof of the claims. Yet the Air Force had been saying publicly for several years that there was “negative proof”...that all sightings had been explained. Clearly the men “on the inside” were more honest with each other than with the American people about the fact they had not been able to prove flying saucers were only mistakes or figments of the imagination.

By this time it had become a standard procedure to appeal to the Soviet Menace in order to legitimize requests for action and the expenditure of funds. General Garland, too, justified the added effort he would propose by referring to the potential Soviet threat:

2. It is logical to relate the reported sightings to the known development of aircraft, jet propulsion, rockets and range extension capabilities in Germany and the U.S.S.R. In this connection, it is to be noted that certain developments by the Germans, particularly the Horten wing, jet propulsion, and refueling, combined with their extensive employment of V-1 and V-2 weapons during World War II, lend credence to the possibility that the flying objects may be of German and Russian origin. The developments mentioned above were contemplated and operational between 1941 and 1944 and subsequently fell into the hands of the Soviets at the end of the war. There is evidence that the Germans were working on these projects as far back as 1931 to 1938. Therefore, it may be assumed that the Germans had at least a 7 to 10 year lead over the United States in the development of rockets, jet engines and aircraft of the Horton-wing design. The Air Corps developed refueling experimentally as early as 1928, but did not develop operational capability until 1948.

Notice how “cleverly” the general has described the possible threat from Russian developments based on German war research and has concluded that the Russians might have a 7 to 10 year lead on the United States in producing advanced aircraft. Nowhere did he mention that the same argument had been rejected in previous years because (a) the ATIC and AFI investigators in 1947 and again in 1948 could not accept the idea that the Soviets were that far ahead of us and (b) even if they were that far ahead they would never fly their advanced aircraft over the United States (we wouldn’t do the reverse). Could it be that he didn’t know about the previous rejection of the “Soviet Hypothesis?” Could it be that he was not sufficiently intelligent to deduce for himself that the idea of the Soviets testing their advanced aircraft over the United States was ridiculous? Or could it be that he actually doubted the Soviet Hypothesis but used it anyway to justify spending money on saucer investigation? (We will shortly see how this same ploy was used by a top defense scientist to get money for a trip to Europe to study, among other things, flying saucer sightings!!)

Having established a “credible” threat General Garland continued:

3. In view of the above facts and the persistent reports of unusual flying objects over parts of the United States, particularly the east and west coast and in the vicinity of the atomic energy production and testing facilities it is apparent that positive action must be taken to determine the nature of the objects and, if possible, their origin. Since it is a known fact that the Soviets did not detonate an atomic bomb prior to 1949, it is believed possible that the Soviets may have developed the German aircraft designs at an accelerated rate in order to have a suitable carrier for the delivery of weapons of mass destruction. In other words, the Soviet may have a carrier without the weapons required while we have relatively superior weapons with relatively inferior carriers available. If the Soviets should get the carrier and the weapon, combined with adequate defensive aircraft, they might surpass us technoloically for a sufficient period of time to permit them to execute a decisive air campaign against the United States and her allies. The basic philosophy of the Soviets has been to surpass the western powers technologically and the Germans may have given them the opportunity.

In the preceding paragraph the general pressed two “hot buttons.” One was the reference to sightings of UFOs/saucers/strange phenomena over the atomic installations (green fireballs and the "disc variation" seen starting in December 1948 and continuing through 1949 and 1950 with occasional reports in 1951). These installations were considered the keystone to our development of defensive atomic weapons (nowadays called “weapons of mass destruction”). Although the Air Force publicly played down the importance of these sightings, it is clear that, privately, the top officials were worried, or at least paying attention. The other hot button was the fact that the Soviets, now with a known nuclear capability, might have a delivery system superior to the bombers of the United States and her allies.

The general concluded:

4. In view of the facts oulined above it is considered mandatory that the Air Force take positive action at once to definitely determine the nature and, if possible, the origin of the reported unusual flying objects. The following action is now contemplated:

a) require ATIC to provide at least three teams to be matched up with an equal number of teams from ADC (Air Defense Command) for the purpose of taking radar scope photographs and visual photographs of the phenomena
b) select sites for these teams based on concentrations of already reported sightings over the United States (these areas are, generally, the Seattle area, the Albuquerque area and the New York-Philadelphia area) and
c) take the initial steps in this project during early January, 1952.”

It is obvious that the general wanted action, ostensibly to protect the United States from the possible Soviet advancements in aeronautical research. However, information contained in a memorandum written by Capt. Ruppelt and contained within his private papers, suggests that Garland may have had an ulterior motive, a hidden reason for wanting a better UFO investigation! According to Ruppelt, “Gen. Garland was my boss at ATIC from the fall of 1952 until I left. He was a moderately confirmed believer. He had seen a UFO while he was stationed in Sacremento, California. He was Gen. Samford’s assistant in the Pentagon before he came to ATIC...”

Only a "moderately" confirmed believer? He had seen one? (Keep in mind the official story: they don't exist, so seeing one is impossible!...so if you see one, DON'T LOOK!).

One may conclude that his observation, at the very least, convinced him that something unexplained was "out there" and flying around. He may have privately rejected the Soviet explanation but used it anyway as a justification for research because he wanted the research done but didn't want to mention the "interplanetary hypothesis" that had been rejected in 1948 by General Vandenberg. This possibility gains further support from what he did only a month or so after this document was written: he suggested the interplanetary hypothesis to writers of a LIFE Magazine article!

Ruppelt began the process of carrying out Garland’s recommendations, but it was slow going. By the time things were starting to move in the late spring PROJECT BLUE BOOK (PBB)was swamped with sightings. The investigation teams proposed by the general were never formed but a plan for instrumentally recording sighting information was carried out. According to a PBB staff Study (written in July), in June the Air Defense Command (ADC) issued a requirement that radar scope cameras be available to radar operators. During the spring and summer of 1952 the Collection Division of ATIC developed a stereo camera with a diffraction grating for color analysis of photographed objects. ATIC ordered 100 of these special cameras to be delivered in September. PBB planned to give these cameras to military and civilian control tower operators and to the Ground Observer Corps. Too bad these cameras arrived too late for the big flap!

INTERPLANETARY MARILYN

The April 7, 1952, issue of LIFE Magazine....an issue that would not soon be forgotten!! The cover of this issue was an irresistible combination of sultry sex and saucers. It shows a dreamy...or is it sleepy?...Marilyn (you know which Marilyn!), with her eyes half open and her luxuriously loose dress slid well down below her shoulders. She was the “talk of Hollywood,” the cover asserted. For those who could remove their eyes from her provocative appearance there was, in the upper right hand corner of the cover, a statement which must have come as a shock to many people: “There is a case for interplanetary saucers.”