1965 Correspondence on NICAP Case - Series of UFO pick-ups on radar screen of Patuxent Naval Air Station in 1964 at speeds up to 3800 mph

TO

FROM

SUBJECT:

tee. ‘cr.bect Division

—s

National Investigation Cormittee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP)

ia

1. his confimns Pconversation 19 Jenuary .
1965, at which tine various semples and reports on UFO si ghtings
procured from NICAP were given to ae
to OST. _The information | W&S desired by OSI. to es sSist then in

2. In-accordance with | sae TCq
19 January 1965 with Mr. Richard: Ferris. Hall, Acti ng Director
of NICAP. Yhough Major _Williem Kehoe , founder of NICAP, is
still listed_es Director of the organization, we gather: that
he is present.on_the_premises_at-1536-Connecticut Avenue, N. W.,
only infrequently.

ren to us:on loan dy Mr. Halil
~eaveaileole at NICAP.

3. The material which was:
is representetive of the type of!
Their past and present correspondence from all over the US rela-
tive to UFO sightings is voluminous. They have slack—periods,;—-----------. - ——
es was the cese in December 1964, thus there were no "Trivestigators”
reports immediately. eaten for the montn of Decemoer.-..NICAP
has active Committees, attered throughout the US. Investigetors

active with these. commit ecs= =call- upon the sources of reported

UFO sig nvings to obtain first hand, eye witness accounts of the

sightings. A printed form, prepared by the Air Force for NICAP's =) > >
use, is sweilieed during the interview, end submitted to NICAP
headquarters elong withthe -source's_eye witness account es told
to the investigator. It was our-understanding that copies of these
reports go directly to varicus Air-Force beses. There apparently
is a strong feeling on the part of NICAP officials, i.e., Kehoe

and Eell, that the Air Force tends to downgrade the importance

of UFO Sishiinzs vecause_they(the. Air_Force)-does not cere to

have too much made of the sightings by the US press. We were

told by Mr. Hall-that there have been instances where the Air

Force has attempted to intimidate witnesses and get them to sign
false statements relative to UFO sightings.

i]


™ —_ (iim ae

2 WiS- [2-65
25 January 1905

7 case B

hk. Yhe most recent UFO sighting of considerable interest
to NICAP wes the series of pick-ups of UFO's on the radar screen,
of the Patuxent Navel Air Stetion eetwecn 1509 and 1530 on 19
December 1964. This incident wes reported in the press &5 @
single sighting, @ UFO epproaching Patuxcnt at speeds up ta 3300
riles per hour. The Air Force & Gay or so later stated in thes
press that the blip was caused by faulty radar equipment. ~ .
-Retually, according to Hell; who talked with an unidentified .
person close to the situation, there were vhree separate sight-
ings:
(a) Two UFO's about 10 miles epart, southesst of Patuxent,
approsching at a high rate of speed, a@isappeared from the. ;
screen; ee
(b) A single UFO picked up 39 miles southeast of Patuxent, .
altitude estimated somewhere between three thousend and 25
thousand feet,-approaching base et estimated speed ef six...
thousand miles-per-hour. UFO lost from screen adout,10 miles
, ouk;
' (c) A single URPO eight miles northeast of Patuxent, approach-
ing at high rate of-speed, made-160°-turn, and Gropped off
: the screen.
The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) stetion at Salisoury, Maryland,
t wes con.actec to determine if eny reported UFO's; a radio cperator
hed received a message from a US Coast Guard ship reporting "visual
ignted” in same locale at epproximately the seme time - Ce

Gid give us the nane of.one of the radar operators

at Petuxent--8 Chief. Pinkerton.
.

“:
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fy
: 5 Spere was another UFO sighting reported in the srea by
; the Washington Post within the lest week or 10 days. Several”
‘ men watening from the windows of the old Munitions Building on

Constitusion Avenue watched several UFO's on the horizon traveling
at high rates of speed. They have promised to fill out NICAP's
sighting questionnaire, which Hall says we ere welcome to see when. --.-.
availabis.

; 6. <eEe7 informed us that she is requesting a security
: clearence Rall predicated upon biographic information pre-

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