CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)
| CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) | |
|
[ IMAGE PLACEHOLDER ]
REAL IMAGE AVAILABLE: Seal of the Central Intelligence Agency — public domain, U.S. federal government insignia. Source from Wikimedia Commons and replace this box. | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Parent department | Independent agency, Executive Branch |
| Established | 1947 |
| Status | Active |
| Status | Active |
The Central Intelligence Agency has played a recurring role in the history of U.S. government UFO investigation, from convening the 1953 Robertson Panel to a notable 1997 historical disclosure about its own role in the 1950s-60s sighting record.
The U-2/SR-71 disclosure
In 1997, the CIA published a historical study acknowledging that a large share of high-altitude UFO reports during the 1950s and 1960s resulted from classified test flights of the U-2 and later SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft, whose existence and unusual flight profiles the agency could not explain to Air Force investigators at the time without compromising the programs’ secrecy — meaning Air Force officials sometimes gave the public misleading explanations to protect classified aircraft, not to hide extraterrestrial evidence.
Current role
The CIA has periodically declassified UFO-related files through FOIA requests and continues to hold a body of historical material relevant to the subject, though it plays a smaller formal role in current UAP investigation than the DIA or AARO.
[1]See also
References
- ^ Central Intelligence Agency (1997). “CIA’s Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90.” Studies in Intelligence.