posted on Aug, 31 2012 @ 12:08 PM
Public interest in UFOs really took off following a rash of witness reports in 1947, and there is no doubt that sightings of unidentified objects in
the skies over the U.S. were of great interest to the government and military services. The first formal investigation to evaluate the "flying
discs" was Project SIGN in 1948. At that time, the Air Force had no idea what these objects were, or how to defend against them if they were a threat
to national security. In a secret memorandum from Gen. Nathan Twining dated 23 September 1947, he stated that he believed the sightings represented a
real (not imagined) phenomenon, but decried "the lack of physical evidence in the shape of crash recovered exhibits which would undeniably prove the
existence of these objects."
In 1953, Capt. Edward Ruppelt, head of Project BLUE BOOK, gave a secret briefing on UFOs to the senior leadership of Air Defense Command (ADC) in
which he stated that "there is no - and I want to emphasize and repeat the word no - evidence of this in any report the Air force has received...We
have never picked up any hardware. By that I mean any pieces, parts, whole articles, or anything that would indicate an unknown material or object."
During another secret briefing in March 1948, a SIGN investigator stated, "I can't even tell you how much we would give to have one of those crash
in an area so that we could recover whatever they are."
In a secret letter to the Director of USAF Intelligence in November 1948, the Air Material Command chief of intelligence stated, "The possibility
that the reported objects are vehicles from another planet has not been ignored. However, tangible evidence to support conclusions about such a
possibility are completely lacking...The exact nature of these objects cannot be established until physical evidence, such as that which would result
from a crash, has been obtained."
If any single organization would have been responsible for UFO crash recovery, it would have likely been the 4602nd Air Intelligence Service Squadron.
The 4602nd AISS was activated in March 1952 in order to provide the ADC with an air-combat intelligence collection capability. The squadron had the
combat mission of supporting the ADC intelligence function through overt collection, limited field analysis, and rapid reporting of air combat
intelligence from positive field sources (downed enemy aircraft, enemy materiel, and enemy documents). It was also tasked to render general support
of the ADC intelligence mission as directed. In the event of an attack on U.S. soil, it was capable of functioning as a fully trained combat unit
capable of immediate movement through any type of terrain regardless of the climatic conditions or difficulty of access. Squadron personnel were
trained to be capable of fully investigating crashed enemy equipment, interrogating enemy personnel, translating enemy documents, and reporting
Essential Elements of Information in time to be of value to unit commanders. During peacetime, the 4602d AISS was assigned the primary mission of
training, effecting liaison, and otherwise preparing for full and instantaneous performance of its combat mission; its secondary mission involved
supporting ADC training and other activities.
With little opportunity to perform its specified task, the 4602nd AISS used real events as opportunities for practice and training. In November 1955,
a C-54 transport crashed on Mt. Charleston, Nevada, while transporting U-2 project personnel to the secret base at Groom Lake (Area 51). There were no
survivors. Three weeks later, members of the 4602nd AISS conducted what they described as a “training exercise” at the crash site. A four-man team
spent three days on the rugged, snow-covered mountain. Although the mission was officially a mock rescue for training purposes, it was more likely an
attempt to recover classified material from the C-54 crash site.
Similarly, any dedicated UFO crash retrieval team would use every opportunity to gain real world experience while awaiting the eventuality of an
extraterrestrial vehicle crashing on Earth. Unacknowledged "black" projects vehicles from Area 51 and Tonopah Test Range, for example, have crashed
on public land in close proximity to populated areas. Security and recovery of debris was paramount in these cases.
I have seen no evidence that a single organization has been involved in "black" project crash recovery. More important, these highly sensitive crash
sites have not been sanitized. If debris from secret projects from Area 51 can be found today at crash sites that were supposedly "cleaned up," then
the same should be true of any alleged UFO crash site.