It is indisputable that actions on the part of numerous government officials over the last several decades has contributed substantially to the public perception of UFO's and parapsychology. On the other hand, there is at this time no substantial evidence to support the notion that there has been any concerted effort or policy by or within this Government with respect to the above phenomena. With this finding in mind, let us consider some specific cases.

During the 1970's there was a general high level of concern that the Soviets might develop applications of parapsychology that would prove detrimental to U.S. interests. This concern gave rise to a rather modest counter effort lasting for about one decade that cost some tens of millions of dollars of federal funds. The principal result has been the spin-off this program into the private sector, which continues to be a source of unending speculation and confusion.

Over a much longer time frame continuing into the present is the fact of Governmental concern and confusion about the so-called 'UFO' phenomenon and its side effects particularly in the public domain. It is undeniable that private citizens and government employees report unusual experiences that they suppose are artifacts of non-human intelligence. There is no evidence suggesting that the Governmental concern has been translated into any concerted programs or policies. There have been concerted government initiated investigations into the phenomenon, not all of which have been made public. But no actionable conclusions have been drawn.

There have been numerous interactions between government officials and citizens over this time period pursuant to personal and official collection of information. A very few of these interactions resulted in allegations of information of a provocative sort being related to private individuals that were subsequently magnified in the public domain. It is very difficult to reconstruct the initially disseminated information. It is deemed impossible to substantiate any of the possibly disseminated provocative information.

The past experience with parapsychology and UFO's point to inherent vulnerabilities in modern social institutions. While these vulnerabilities may be readily noted, the possible remedies remain obscure. However it can be clearly stated that government secrecy of any sort exacerbates these vulnerabilities, and this is a very significant social cost that must be recognized in maintaining or initiating any officially sanctioned secrecy.

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rev. 7/9/97