Nova York, 1948: a Força Aérea pede, por meio da CIA, as cartas de leitores da revista Amazing Stories sobre discos

COPY. HEADQUARTERS AIR MATERIEL COMMAND. MCI. MCI/HMM/dm. Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. 16 Jan 48. SUBJECT: "Flying Discs". TO: Chief of Staff, United States Air Force, Washington 25, D. C. Attention: Lt. Col. George Garrett, Collection Branch, Air Intelligence Req. Div., Office, Director of Intelligence. 1. An employee of this Department recently called the attention of the undersigned to a number of letters appearing in AMAZING STORIES Magazine on the subject of flying discs. Several past issues of the magazine were then reviewed, and it does appear that the readers of AMAZING STORIES have reported a number of such incidents which were not previously available to the Air Forces. It is understood that a feature article on this subject is under preparation by AMAZING STORIES. A preprint copy of this article, together with a copy of the letters available on this subject, would be of considerable interest. 2. Due to the nature of the publication AMAZING STORIES and the unfavorable publicity which might accrue to the Air Force if an official request were made for such material, this headquarters cannot contact the publisher directly. It is therefore requested that arrangements be made through appropriate channels whereby the desired information may be obtained. 3. It is realized that the above request is unusual, however, until such time as the so-called "Flying Disc" phenomenon is laid to rest, all possible sources of information should be utilized. 4. AMAZING STORIES is published monthly by the Ziff-Davis Publishing Company at 185 North Wabash Avenue, Chicago 1, Illinois. The New York office is located in the Empire State Building, New York 3, New York. FOR THE COMMANDING GENERAL: /s/ H.M. McCOY, Colonel, USAF, Chief of Intelligence.

AFOIR-CO/Lt Col Garrett/lwd/4544. 6 Feb 48. B/Ltr fm AMC dated 16 Jan 48, subject: "Flying Discs". AFOIR-CO-5 (A-2523) 1st Ind. Dept. of the Air Force, Hq. USAF, Washington 25, D. C. [stamp] 9 FEB 1948. TO: Commanding General, Air Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, ATTN: TSDIN. 1. The Central Intelligence Agency has contacted the New York office of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in connection with basic letter's request for information on "Amazing Stories" and their publication of items regarding Flying Discs. 2. The Central Intelligence Agency representative states that the letters from readers, in the possession of the publishing company, are of no value inasmuch as they are from school children, illiterates, "crack-pots", etc. None had a sensible report in connection with sightings, and most bordered on the fantastic side. 3. The feature article which was to have appeared on Flying Discs was written by a man who claims the discs emanate from a buried underground city in the bowels of the earth, which he has visited. However, Ziff-Davis Publishing Company have cancelled this story because it is not amazing enough, and instead are going to run a story about a huge red spider which comes down to earth from Mars and captures humans for a Martian museum. 4. This Office has instructed the Central Intelligence Agency Representatives to stop any further efforts in this matter (to their relief) and assumes that your command will wish no further steps taken in this direction. BY COMMAND OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF: DOUGLASS W. EISEMAN, Lt. Colonel, U.S.A.F., Executive, Air Intelligence Requirements Div., Directorate of Intelligence. [handwritten file codes] 040.9 Central Intel. Agency; 095. Amazing Stories; 095. Ziff-Davis Publishing Company.