Editing Project Aquarius Briefing Document (section)

== Page 5 of 9 reads ==

(TS/ORCON) Several independent scientific investigations, at the request of the Air Force and CIA, were initiated during the era of Project Blue Book. [[MJ12]] decided that officially, the Air Force should end their investigation of UFOs. This decision was arrived at during the \[unreadable\] meeting ([[Atch 4]]) in 1966. The reason was twofold. First, the United States had established communication with the Aliens. The United States felt relatively sure the Aliens’ exploration of Earth was non-aggressive and non-hostile. It was also established that the Aliens’ presence did not directly threaten the security of the United States.

Secondly, the public was beginning to believe that UFOs were real. The NSC felt this public feeling could lead to nationwide panic. The United States was involved in several sensitive projects during this time period. It was felt that public awareness of these projects would have jeopardized the future space program of the United States. Therefore, MJ12 decided that an independent scientific study of the UFO phenomena would be needed to satisfy public curiosity. The study concluded that sufficient data did not exist that would indicate UFOs threatened the security of the United States. The final conclusion satisfied the government and allowed the Air Force to officially step out of the UFO investigating business.