PROJECT 1947

The Ground Saucer Watch (GSW)
Freedom of Information Lawsuit Documents

In 1997, an article by the current Chief CIA historian, Gerald K. Haines, A Die Hard Issue: CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90, set off a furor in the press which embarrassed other agencies, especially the US Air Force. Just when it looked as though the Air Force had won a major battle in the UFO public relations war with its publication of Roswell Report: Case Closed, the "die hard issue" of UFOs was resurrected.

When Gerald Haines, who has held positions as historian for both the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), revealed that the U-2 and SR-71 (Air Force version of the CIA's original "A-12") aircraft had been reported as UFOs and falsely explained as other phenomena to cover up airborne reconnaissance activities, the Air Force was forced into a terse release that they could not comment one way or the other on Haines' assertions.

Haines' article, which was published in a number of journals, Intelligence and National Security and Studies In Intelligence, and on the Internet, purported to cover the history and activities of the CIA's involvement with UFOs. However, some researchers with expertise in both intelligence matters and the history of official interest in UFOs saw it as incomplete. The original GSW -- Ground Saucer Watch -- FOIA lawsuit against the CIA in 1978 raised many issues not dealt with by Haines.

While details of the subsequent Freedom of Information lawsuit against the National Security Agency regarding documents relating to UFOs can be found on the Internet, important elements of the CIA lawsuit are not so readily available to researchers. Project 1947 is pleased to be able to present three portions of the lawsuit: Filings of Civil Action, Interrogatories, and Document Production.

Historical Perspective

One must remember that these questions and requests were from the 1970's, and some were included as a "fishing expedition" for answers on likely topics. Others were developed from research into previously released CIA documents and other historical and official material.

One person did not prepare all the questions used in the lawsuit. Some were prepared by an individual after exhaustive investigation into the CIA history with UFOs, and some were prepared based on more literal readings of the documents without reference to research into the CIA history. Because of the different inputs the reader will find some duplications of questions in the Interrogatories. (Interestingly, the 1949 document released to Brad Sparks and referred to in the Interrogatories, "Bowers to Machle, dated 31 March 1949, subject Notes and Comments on Unidentified Aerial Objects--Project Sign" was apparently not included in any subsequent CIA document releases, nor is it among the documents on the CIA website.)

Some questions in the Interrogatories are easily answered today, but this was not the case when the lawsuit was current. Some of the more than 600 questions in the Interrogatories are "lost in the 1970's"; that is, they were based on attitudes and understandings of the UFO situation at that time.

The Freedom of Information Act was not written to provide answers to such wide-ranging questions. It was concerned with the release of specific official documents to outside non-government sources if the files met the proper criteria of the Act. The courts have, therefore, generally not allowed the wide-ranging discovery process requested in GSW lawsuit filings. Discovery does exist in FOIA lawsuits, but it is generally restricted to the search procedures for the documents requested, indices, catalogues, and classifications, and the agency's procedures in these areas, and very limited factual matters. The courts have broad discretion to limit or curtail such discovery requests.

While the CIA did indeed answer some questions posed in the filings, they are currently unavailable to Project 1947. Commentaries on both the CIA UFO involvement and on the GSW lawsuit are in preparation, and as a first step in detailing this period in UFO history, Project 1947 is making these GSW/CIA document available. (Special thanks to Barry Greenwood, and Brad Sparks for their assistance, and to Candy Peterson for her help in transcribing the documents.)

(N.B., While contemporary press coverage, including the New York Times,, referred to GSW and William Spaulding as the originators of the lawsuit, the work and research was actually done by Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS). Since the formation of CAUS in 1977, it has gone through three different reorganizations. The current CAUS retains the same name as the founding organization, but is different from the original CAUS.) - Jan L. Aldrich