FIntroduction                                                          F                                                                      FThe government of the United States has been studying the             FUFO Phenomenon for many years using a number of code named            Fprojects.  The results of these projects have usually been            Fthat there are no such things as UFOs and that UFO sightings          Fand alien contacts can all be explained away as                       Fmisidentification of normal objects, psychological                    Fphenomena, hysteria or hoaxes.  The first project to                  Factually admit that some sightings were in fact, not                  Fexplainable was Project Blue Book.  The government did not            Fgo so far as to say that they were UFOs, only that there              Fwas not enough evidence to suggest a logical explanation.             FThere have been more than a few accusations aimed at the              Fgovernment that suggest a coverup is actively continuing              Fto keep the truth from the American people.  There are                Frumors that the government is in possession of a number               Fof crashed UFO vehicles from another planet or                        Fcivilization.  The main question which comes to mind is               Fwhy the government would spend so much time, so much money            Fand so much effort on covering its involvement with UFOs.             FAnd, if the government does have the remains of UFOs, how             Fis it that a civilization which can mount an expedition to            Fcross the galaxy to our remote location, is unable to keep            Fa vehicle flying in out atmosphere?  Why do these things              Fcrash?                                                                FThere are suggestions that the Philadelphia Experiment was            Fa joint experiment between the US government and an alien             Fcivilization.                                                         FThe questions continue and there are few answers.                     F/                                                                     FUSA 1966 Condon Committee                                             F                                                                      FThis committe was formed in 1966 to study the UFO                     Fphenomenon for period of two years and then publish its               Fresults.                                                              FThen Senator Gerald Ford gave government approval for this            Fresearch.  The leader of the team was Dr. Edward Uhler                FCondon.  Research was conducted by a team of scientists               Fat Colorado University.                                               FThe report published at the end of the two year project               Fstated that UFO's were not worth further study and of                 Flittle significance.  Some members of the study did not               Fagree with the published findings and it has been suggested           Fthat the government insisted on this version of the report.           FAn Air Force panel reviewed the report and stated that                F"little if anything had come from the study of UFO's in               Fthe past twenty-one years that added to scientific knowledge"         Fand went on to say "that no high priority in UFO investigation        Fby data of past two decades."  These statements are in response       Fto the findings of the Condon Report.                                 FThe objectivity of the project came into question as                  FCondon made public statements about the lack of evidence              Ffor UFO's, and also stated that "there's nothing to it                F(UFO's), but I'm not supposed to come to a conclusion                 Ffor another year."                                                    FThe American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics                Fstated that Condon report conclusions were not supported              Fby the data contained within the report, and suggested a              Fbias in the investigative approach.                                   FIn addition to the research group was a government group              Fcalled the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.  This             Funit was set up to act as an intermediary between the Air             FForce and the Colorado University project.  The purpose of            Fthis unit was to avoid direct government contact with the             Fresearch group.                                                       F/                                                                     FUSA 1947 Majestic 12                                                  F                                                                      FThe Majestic 12, also known as MJ-12, is believed to have             Fbeen created after the alleged 1947 crash of a UFO near               FRoswell, NM.  They were to report findings directly to the            FPresident of the United States.  The mission of this group            Fwas to perform crash retrievals.  This group was kept                 Fhighly secret and involvement by any of the following                 Fcannot be conclusively proven.  The very existence of the             Fgroup itself cannot be verified.  Some documents of the               FU.S. government hint at its formation.  It is widely thought          Fthat the government documents pertaining to this group have           Fbeen faked, although the source of the fraud itself cannot            Fbe found.  A $16,000 sum was allocated by the Fund for UFO            FResearch to verify the validity of the documents.  Many               Fresearchers believe in their authenticity.                            F                                                                      FMembers thought to be involved are as follows:                        F                                                                      FBerkner, Lloyd V.                                                     FBronk, Detlev W.                                                      FBush, Dr. Vannevar - Head of Majestic 12                              FForrestal, Secretary James V.                                         FGray, Gordon L.                                                       FHunsaker, Dr. Jerome C.                                               FHillenkoetter, Roscoe                                                 FMenzel, Dr. Howard H.                                                 FMontague, General Robert M.                                           FSouers, Rear Admiral Sidney W.                                        FTwining, General Nathan A.                                            FVandenberg, General Hoyt S.                                           F/                                                                     FUSA 1956 NICAP                                                        F                                                                      FNICAP stands for National Investigations Committee on                 FAerial Phenomenon.  This organization was started by Thomas           FTownsend Brown and later headed by Major Donald Keyhoe.               FThe group took on Keyhoe's pro extraterrestrial stance.               FThey were highly critcal of the Air Forces established                Foriganizations and suspected cover ups.                               FNICAP had many members who were active or former CIA.                 FKeyhoe was replaced by John Acuff who was alleged to have             FCIA conections and Acuff was replaced by CIA agent Alan               FHall.                                                                 FThe committee was disbanded in 1973 and its reports turned            Fover to the Center for UFO Studies and Dr J. Allen Hynek.             F/                                                                     FUSA 1947 Project Twinkle                                              F                                                                      FThis project was started to study the numerous sightings              Fof green fireballs which occurred in the years between 1947           Fand 1949.                                                             FThe fireballs resembled meteors but were green in color and           Fmaintained a flat trajectory while movinged slowly across             Fthe sky.                                                              FThe sightings occurred at three places in New Mexico.                 FTwinkle set up movie cameras at the three sites at                    Fdifferent times but not a single fireball was caught on               Ffilm.                                                                 FThe members of the project were frustrated due to the lack            Fof staff and equipment to observe all sites simultaneously.           FThe project was terminated due to the lack of results                 FGreen fireballs are still sighted today.                              F/                                                                     FUSA 1947 Project Sign                                                 F                                                                      FSign was begun after research had already begun on reported           FUFO sightings the conclusions were compelling enough that             FWashington began this project to study what had already               Fbeen called "something real and not visionary or                      Ffictitious" by the commander of Wright Field.                         FThe project was ended due to breaches in security and leaks           Fto the media regarding this research.Ongoing research was             Fto be carried out by Project Grudge.                                  F/                                                                     FUSA 1949 Project Grudge                                               F                                                                      FThis project was originally called project Sign, but was              Fnicknamed Grudge.  This project investigated UFO reports              Fusing Air Force officer witnesses rather than civilian                Fexperts on contract to the military.                                  FAll sightings reported to this project were explained                 Faway as natural phenomenon.  When the data was reviewed               Fat the end of the project, 23 percent of the reports were             Fwere explained as psycological problems of the observers.             FHowever, no medical evidence was provided to support these            Fclaims.                                                               F                                                                      FProject Grudge came to a close late in 1949, but was                  Freactivated in 1951 and became Project Blue Book in 1952.             F/                                                                     FUSA 1952 Project Blue Book                                            F                                                                      FThis project was set up to to function as a scientific                Funit to study UFO's.                                                  FCaptain Edward Ruppelt was its leader.  He is reported to             Fbeen objective about UFO's.  He selected Dr J. Allen Hynek            Fas his chief scientific consultant.                                   FRuppelt instituted an open policy with the media by issuing           Fpress releases regularly on sightings and any ongoing                 Finvestigations.                                                       FRuppelt also encouraged military personnel to report any              Funusual sightings and issued a standard form to all                   Fcommands to aid in the reporting.                                     FThese changes still did not quell the publics's opinion               Fthat the investigations were not complete and were                    Fsuperficial attempts to explain phenomenon as known                   Fnatural events.                                                       FProject Blue Book was in existance until 1969.                        F/                                                                     FUSA 1953 Robertson Panel                                              F                                                                      FThis panel was set up by the CIA and given three days to              Freview UFO research.  The group was given less than one               Fhundred cases to review.                                              FThe conclusions reached are as follows:                               F                                                                      F  1.Project Blue Book should collect less data and spend              F    more time reducing public anxiety over the phenomenon.            F    Continued research wwould be a threat to national                 F    security.                                                         F  2.Private UFO research groups should be put under                   F    surveillance because they might be used for "subversive           F    purposes".                                                        F  3.National security agencies should "strip the UFO                  F    phenomenon of its special status" and suggeseted a                F    program of public information to debunk UFO's.                    F  4.UFO's did not pose a risk to national security.                   F                                                                      FMembers of the panel were:                                            F                                                                      F    Dr H P Robertson  -chairman of the panel                          F    Dr Luis Alvarez   -physicist                                      F    Dr Lloyd Berkner  -geophysicist                                   F    Dr S Goudsmit     -statistics                                     F    Dr Thornton Page  -astronomy                                      F                                                                      FIn addition to the five members of the panel were two                 Fadvisors J Allen Hynek and Frederick Durant.                          F/                                                                     FUSA 1972 SETI                                                         F                                                                      FSETI stands for the Search for ExtraTerrestrial                       FIntelligence.                                                         FThe search was started by placing a small gold plaque on              FPioneer10 and Pioneer11 to give clues to an alien culture             Fabout our existence.  Later, in 1980, a gold phonograph               Frecord was carried by another probe.  It contained greetings          Fin 54 languages.                                                      FIn addition to sending messages, many groups are trying to            Fgather data on radio waves coming to the earth from space.            FThe radio telescope at Aricibo, Puerto Rico has been                  Flistening to the skys since 1974.  Other radio telescopes             Fare also listening to sounds of space.  To date no                    Fartificial transmissions have been heard.                             F/                                                                     F/                                                                     