AIR FORCE REGULATION 200-2
(AFR 200-2, 12-AUG-1954)
This is the famous Air Force Regulation 200-2 (AFR 200-2). This version, dated 12 August 1954, is after the 4602 Air Intelligence Service Squadron (4602d AISS) was brought in to assist the USAF Air Technical Intelligence Center with preliminary and field UFO investigations.
*AFR 200-2
AIR FORCE REGULATION THE DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
No. 200-2 WASHINGTON, 12 AUGUST 1954
INTELLIGENCE
Unidentified Flying Objects Reporting (Short Title: FLYOBRPT)
Paragraph
Purpose and Scope . . . . . . . . . .
1
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
Guidance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
ZI Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
Release of Facts . . . . . . . . . . . .
9
1. Purpose and Scope: This Regulation establishes procedures for information and evidence materiel pertaining to unidentified flying objects and sets forth the responsibility of Air Force activities in this regard. It applies to all Air Force Activities.
2. Definitions:
a. Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOB) relates to any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object.
b. Familiar Objects - Include balloons, astronomical bodies, birds, and so forth.
3. Objectives: Air Force interest in unidentified flying objects is twofold: First as a possible threat to the security of the United States and its forces, and secondly, to determine technical aspects involved.
a. Air Defense. To date the flying objects reported have imposed no threat to the security of the United States and its Possessions. However, the possibility that new air vehicles, hostile aircraft or missiles may first be regarded as flying objects by the initial observer is real. This requires that sightings be reported as rapidly and as completely as information permits.
b. Technical Analysis thus far has failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for a number of sightings reported. The Air Force will continue to collect and analyze reports until all sightings can be satisfactorily explained., bearing in mind that:
(1) To measure scientific advances, the Air Force must be informed on experimentation and
development of new air vehicles.
(2) The possibility exists that an air vehicle of revolutionary configuration may be developed.
(3) The reporting of all pertinent factors will have a direct bearing on the success of the technical
analysis.
4. Responsibility:
a. Reporting. Commanders of all Air Force activities will report all information and evidence that may come to their attention, including that received from adjacent commands of the other services and from civilians.
b. Investigation. Air Defense Command will conduct all field investigations within the ZI, to determine the identity of any UFOB.
c. Analysis. The Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, will analyze and evaluate: All information and evidence reported within the ZI after the Air Defense Command has exhausted all efforts to identify the UFOB; and all information and evidence collected in overseas areas.
d. Cooperation. All activities will cooperate with Air Defense Command representatives to insure the economical and prompt success of an investigation, including the furnishing of air and ground transportation, when feasible.
5. Guidance. The thoroughness and quality of a report or investigation into incidents of unidentified flying objects are limited only by the resourcefulness and imagination of the person responsible for preparing the report. Guidance set forth below is based on experience and has been found helpful in evaluating incidents.
a. Theodolite measurements of changes of azimuth and elevation and angular size.
b. Interception, identification, or air search action. these actions may be taken if appropriate and within the scope of existing air defense regulations.
c. Contact with local aircraft control and Warning (AC&W) units, ground observer corps (GOC) posts and filter centers, pilots and crews of aircraft aloft at the time and place of sighting whenever feasible, and any other persons or organizations which may have factual data bearing on the UFOB or may be able to offer corroborating evidence, electronic or otherwise.
d. Consultation with military and civilian weather forecasters to obtain data on: Tracks of weather balloons released in the area, since these often are responsible for sightings; and any unusual meteorological activity which may have a bearing on the UFOB.
e. Consultation with astronomers in the area to determine whether any astronomical body or phenomenon would account for or have bearing on the observation.
f. Contact with military and civilian tower operators, air operations offices, and so forth, to determine whether the sighting could be the result of misidentification of known aircraft.
g. Contact with persons who might have knowledge of experimental aircraft of unusual configuration, rocket and guided missile firings, and so forth in the area.
6. ZI Collection. The Air Defense Command has a direct interest in the facts pertaining to UFOB's reported within the ZI and has, in the 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron (AISS), the capability to investigate these reports. The 4602d AISS is composed of specialists trained for field collection and investigation of matters of air intelligence interest which occur within the zone of the ZI. This squadron is highly mobile and deployed throughout the ZI as follows: Flights are attached to air defense divisions, detachments are attached to each of the defense forces, and the squadron headquarters is located at Peterson Field, Colorado, adjacent to Headquarters, Air Defense Command. Air Force activities, therefore, should establish and maintain liaison with the nearest element of this squadron. This can be accomplished by contacting the appropriate echelon of the Air Defense Command as outlined above.
a. All Air Force activities are authorized to conduct such preliminary investigation as may be required for reporting purposes; however, investigations should not be carried beyond this point, unless such action is requested by the 4602d AISS.
b. On occasions - after initial reports submitted - additional data is required which can be developed more economically by the nearest Air Force activity, such as narrative statements, sketches, marked maps, charts, and so forth. Under such circumstances, appropriate commanders will be contacted by the 4602d AISS.
c. Direct communication between echelons of the 4602d AISS and Air Force activities is authorized.
7. Reporting. Information relating to unidentified flying objects will be reported promptly. The method (electrical or written) and priority of the dispatch will be selected in accordance with the apparent intelligence value of the information. In most instances, reports will be made by electrical
means: Information over 24 hours old will be given a "deferred" precedence. reports over 3 days old will be made by written report prepared on AF Form 112, Air Intelligence Information report, and AF Form 112a, Supplement to AF Form 112.
a. Addressees:
(1) Electrical Reports. All electrical reports will be multiple addressed to:
(a) Commander, Air Defense Command, Ent Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
(b) Nearest Air Division (Defense) (For ZI only.)
(c) Commander, Air Technical Intelligence Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
(d) Director of Intelligence, Headquarters, USAF, Washington 25, D.C.
(2) Written Reports:
(a) Within the ZI, reports will be submitted direct to the Air Defense Command. Air
Defense Command will reproduce the report and distribute it to interested ZI intelligence
agencies. The original report together with the notation of the distribution effected then
will be forwarded to the Director of Intelligence, Headquarters, USAF, Washington 25,
D.C.
(b) Outside the ZI, reports will be submitted direct to the Director of Intelligence,
Headquarters, USAF, Washington 25, D.C. as prescribed in "Intelligence Collection
Instructions" (ICI), June 1954.
b. Short Title. "UFOB" will appear at the beginning of the text of electrical messages and in the subject of written reports.
c. Negative Data. The word "negative" in reply to any numbered item of the report format will indicate that all logical leads were developed without success. The phrase "not applicable" (N/A) will indicate that the question does not apply to the sighting being investigated.
d. Report Format Reports will include the following numbered items:
(1) Description of the object(s):
(a) Shape
(b) Size compared to known object (use one of the following terms: Head of a pin, pea,
dime, nickel, quarter, half dollar, silver dollar, baseball, grapefruit, or basketball) held in
the hand at about arms length.
(c) Color.
(d) Number.
(e) Formation, if more than one.
(f) Any discernible features or details.
(g) Tail, trail, or exhaust, including size of same compared to size of object(s).
(h) Sound. If heard, describe sound.
(i) Other pertinent or unusual features.
(2) Description of course of object(s):
(a) What first called the attention of the observer(s) to the object(s)?
(b) Angle of elevation and azimuth of the objects when first observed.
(c) Angle of elevation and azimuth of the objects upon disappearance.
(d) Description of flight path and maneuvers of object(s).
(e) Manner of disappearance of objects(s)
(f) Length of time in sight
(3) Manner of observation:
(a) Use one or a combination of the following items: Ground-visual, ground-electronic,
air-electronic. (If electronic, specify type of radar.)
(b) Statement as to optical aids (telescopes, binoculars, and so forth) used and description
thereof.
(c) If the sighting is made while airborne, give type of aircraft, identification number, altitude,
heading, speed and home station.
(4) Time and date of sighting:
(a) Zulu time-date group of sighting.
(b) Light conditions (use one of he following terms): Night, day, dawn, dusk.
(5) Locations of observer(s). Exact latitude and longitude of each observer or Georef position,
or position with reference to a known landmark.
(6) Identifying information of all observer(s):
(a) Civilian - Name, age, mailing address, occupation.
(b) Military - Name, grade, organization, duty, and estimate of reliability.
(7) Weather and winds-aloft conditions at time and place of sightings:
(a) Observer(s) account of weather conditions.
(b) Report from nearest AWS or U.S. Weather Bureau Office of wind direction and
velocity in degrees and knots at surface, 6,000', 10,000', 16,000', 20,000', 30,000',
50,000', and 80,000', if available.
(c) ceiling.
(d) Visibility.
(e) Amount of cloud cover.
(f) Thunderstorms in area and quadrant in which located.
(8) Any other unusual activity or condition, meteorological, astronomical, or otherwise, which
might account for the sighting.
(9) Interception and identification action taken. (Such action may be taken whenever feasible,
complying with existing air defense directives.)
(10) Location of any air traffic in the general area at the time of the sighting.
(11) Position title and comments of the preparing officer, including his preliminary analysis of the
possible cause of the sighting(s).
(12) Security. Reports should be unclassified unless inclusion of data required by c and d below
mandates a higher classification.
8. Evidence. The existence of physical evidence (photographs or materiel) will be promptly reported.
a. Photographic:
(1) Visual: the negative and two prints will be forwarded, all original film, including wherever
possible both prints and negatives, will be titled or otherwise properly identified as to place,
time, and date of the incident
(see "Intelligence Collection Instructions" (ICI), June 1954)
(2) Radar: Two copies of each print will be forwarded. Prints of radarscope photography will
be titled in accordance with AFR 95-7 and forwarded in accordance with AFR 95-6.
b. Materiel: Suspected or actual items of materiel which come into the possession of any Air
Force Echelon will be safeguarded in such manner as to prevent any defacing or alteration
which might reduce its value for intelligence
examination and analysis.
9. Release of Facts: Headquarters USAF will release summaries of evaluated data which will inform the public on this subject. In response to local inquiries, it is permissible to in form news media representatives on UFOB's when the object is positively identified as a familiar object (see paragraph 2b), except that the following type of data warrants protection and should not be revealed: Names of principles, intercept and investigation procedures, and classified radar data. For those objects which are not explainable, only the fact that ATIC will analyze the data is worthy of release, due to many unknowns involved.
By Order of the Secretary of the Air Force:
Official: N.F. Twining
Chief of Staff, United States Air Force
K.E. THIEBAUD
Colonel, USAF
Air Adjutant General
DISTRIBUTION:
S; X
ONI, Department of the Navy 200
G-2, Department of the Army 10
------------
*This Regulation supersedes AFR 200-2, 26 August 1953, Including Change 200-2A,
2 November 1953.
http://www.cufon.org/cufon/afr200-2.htm
Good find Elvis.
I just happened to be reading Kevin Randle's Blog this weekend about this 4602d AISS group in the context of how we have repeatedly been lied to in regards to government agencies pretending they are not investigating UFO's when in fact they are.
Same goes for all the alphabet soup agencies lying to us saying they have no documents relating to UFO's, but when ordered by a court to have another look, all of a sudden like magic they find thousands of those documents, which have to be heavily blacked out before anyone can have a look.
This document you posted is smoking gun proof of one of the many lies we have been told.
Check out Kevin's Blog - 'A Different Perspective'.
Remember when Congressman Steven Schiff requested the Roswell base records for 1947?
"Oops sorry, all the records for that summer are 'missing'.
And now we find, according to the CIA, that the budget records for 1947 are also 'missing'.
Find out why and who claims responsibility here -
http://ufocon.blogspot.com/2013/09/cia-claims-1947-budget-records-are.html (http://ufocon.blogspot.com/2013/09/cia-claims-1947-budget-records-are.html)
Another neat trick for hiding information is to have no written records, instead verbal briefings only.
Starting at item 77, we can see Truman instructed his Air Force aide to provide verbal UFO briefings only,
unless a threat to national security required a detailed written report.
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/landryr.htm (http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/landryr.htm)
So we have Air Force officials bragging about what a great job they did hiding and erasing the paper trail, and Truman ordering verbal reports only.
It's a miracle we have managed to drag anything of truth out of these guys at all.
Good stuff 51, im gonna have a bit more dig around today. Lets see what pops up!
At a certain level of government, it seems that 'Reports of UFOs' rather than the UFOs themselves were regarded as a threat to national security.
After World War II operators who literally plugged you in when making a phone call handled telephone calls. The government became concerned that our phone system was being overrun by UFO reports.
On September 24, 1952, H. Marshall Chadwell, wrote a memo to CIA Director Walter Smith stating,
"I'm concerned that large numbers of phone calls, a huge volume of letters and press releases, ATIC (Air Technical Intelligence Center) had received 1500 official UFO reports since 1947, and 250 reports in July alone.
That the public concern with the phenomena, which is reflected in both in the US press and the pressure of inquiry upon the Air Force indicates that a fair proportion of our population is mentally conditioned to the acceptance of the incredible. In this fact lies the potential for creating mass hysteria and panic.
The U.S.S.R. is credited with the present capability of delivering an air attack against the United States, yet at any given moment now, there may be current a dozen official unidentified sightings plus many unofficial ones.
At any moment of attack, we are now in a position where we cannot, on an instant basis distinguish hardware from phantom, and as the tension mounts, we will run the increasing risk of false alerts and the even greater danger of falsely identifying the real as phantom.
What could be done to stop people from reporting UFOs?"
The Robertson Panel was convened by the CIA to discuss the problem during January 14 to 17, 1953.
The panel concluded UFOs were not a threat, but that the continued emphasis on the reporting of these phenomena does, in these perilous times, result in a threat to the orderly functioning of the protective organs of the body politic.
This threat involved the clogging of communication channels with UFO reports, the cultivation of a morbid national psychology in which skillful hostile propaganda could induce hysterical behavior and harmful distrust of duly constituted authority.
Consequently, the Panel recommended that,
"the national security agencies take immediate steps to strip the UFOs of the special status they have been given and the aura of mystery they have unfortunately have acquired."
The method prescribed was "debunking" UFOs.
Here is the Panel's debunking strategy from some the top scientific minds in the government such as,
• Nobel Prize winner in Physics Dr. Luis Alverez
• Dr. Lloyd Berkner director of the Brookhaven National Laboratories and Chairman
• Dr. H.P. Robertson director of Weapons Systems Evaluation at the Secretary of Defense
The "debunking" aim would result in reduction in public interest in "flying saucers" which today evokes a strong psychological reaction.
This education could be accomplished by mass media such as television, motion pictures and popular articles. Basis of such education would be actual case histories, which had been puzzling at first but later explained.
As in the case of conjuring tricks, there is much less stimulation if the "secret" is known. Such a program should tend to reduce the current gullibility of the public and consequently their susceptibility to clever hostile propaganda.
Essentially belittling and propaganda techniques were used to debunk the reality of UFOs in order to help protect the United States and other countries from propaganda that could induce hysterical behavior and clog communications channels.
Robertson Panel was still putting a negative spin on UFO news at least 13 years after the panel met
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_robertsonpanel.htm#top