Project Sign
By
Billy Booth
UFOs/Alien
Expert
Since reports of the so-called "Foo Fighters" of WW
II, the United States Air Force has been involved in some extent in the
investigation of unidentified flying objects, though not always in an official
capacity. Most of the pre-Arnold sightings were not given much weight by the
Force, writing them off as misidentified conventional objects, or atmospheric
phenomena.
Interestingly enough, the Foo Fighter
reports were explained by the Germans as American devices, and by the Americans
as German machines. UFO sightings made by military personnel reached a peak in
the mid-1940s, and the attention of the Air Force reached a new level.
Classified orders gave instruction that these sightings be sent to the
Technical Intelligence Division of the Air Force Materiel Command at
Wright-Patterson Air Field.
The Air Force became a separate branch of the military
in late summer of 1947, and the Air Intelligence at the Pentagon requested a
report from the Air Materiel Command for information on Unidentified Flying
Objects. A conference was called by Lt. General Nathan F. Twining, with personnel
from several different branches within the service to discuss the UFO mystery.
This "think tank" produced a
number of definitive conclusions: The UFO phenomena is real, and not visionary
or fictitious, there are disc-shaped objects the size of airplanes flying in
our skies, some of the sightings could be caused by natural phenomena, the
operating characteristics of the unknown objects was extraordinary, such as
rates of climb, maneuverability, and evasiveness.
Also given was a "common
description." These objects were seen as metallic or light reflecting,
they give no contrail, they were usually circular or elliptical in shape, flat
on the bottom, and domed on top. It was not uncommon for the objects to be seen
in groups of anywhere from three to nine.
Also, the objects made no sound, except for some
reports of "rumbling" sounds. Any "private" enterprise of
these objects was nearly impossible, due to the immense cost involved. The
possibility that a foreign government possessed this technology could not be
ruled out, however.
After all was said and done, on December
30, 1947, Major General L.C. Craigie, Director of Research and Development,
issued an official order establishing "Project Sign." This project
was also often referred to as "Project Saucer."
The main objective of Sign was... to
collect, collate, evaluate and distribute to interested government agencies and
contractors all information concerning sightings and phenomena in the
atmosphere which can be construed to be of concern to the national security.
There
were differing reactions to reports of UFOs being explained as extraterrestrial
in origin, and some parts of reports were expunged, causing personal
differences to inflame the project. Shortly thereafter Sign would officially be
changed to Project Grudge.
No comments:
Post a Comment