CIA-UAP-019, Australian Department of Defence Paper: Scientific and Intelligence Aspects of the UFO Problem, 1971
- Date
- May 27, 1971 (covering minute)
- Location
- Australia (Joint Intelligence Organisation, Department of Defence)
- Agency
- CIA
- Release
- Release 03 (June 12, 2026)
- Type
- document
Summary
A National Archives of Australia file whose covering minute, signed by O. H. Turner, head of the Joint Intelligence Organisation's Nuclear Branch, says the attached documents "are intended to focus on aspects of the UFO problem that have tended to remain hidden." The main paper reviews U.S. handling from Projects Sign and Grudge to Blue Book, the Robertson panel and the Condon study, and asserts that a government agency, "almost certainly the CIA," ran a covert program while Blue Book publicly debunked sightings; it reproduces a Special Report No. 14 table showing "unknowns" rising with sighting reliability. It criticizes the RAAF's handling (such as invalid Venus identifications) and argues "a strong case exists" for another department to take over UFO analysis in Australia, followed by a chronology.
Note
The paper's claims about the CIA are the Australian author's own inferences, not findings; much of the chronology is poorly legible.