Washington, D.C.: CIA's James Q. Reber memo on flying saucers and psychological warfare

On 13 October 1952, James Q. Reber, assistant director of CIA intelligence coordination, wrote a memo titled "Flying Saucers" to the CIA deputy director of intelligence. He argued that fundamental research into the question of positive identification was the responsibility of the Defense Department, and that while investigating Soviet knowledge of UFO phenomena was a "primary concern" for the CIA, it was "far too early in view of the present state of our knowledge regarding Flying Saucers for psychological warfare planners to start planning how the United States might use U.S. Flying Saucers against the enemy." Reber recommended that once intelligence had submitted a National Estimate on flying saucers, there would be "the time and basis for a public policy to reduce or restrain mass hysteria." The memo is held in the CIA reading room and in the PURSUE releases. The account follows the entry in George M. Eberhart's chronology UFOs and Intelligence (CUFOS) and the sources cited there; it is not an independent determination by From Beyond Space.