| (Note:
Although the phrase, "the Blue Book Plan", and the workings of
Project Blue Book are probably not related, I find it interesting that
the peak and focus of the 1952 sightings coincides with the threat
mentioned in the report by Kenneth Schaffel mentioned below in Dan
Wilson's summation. - Francis Ridge) Information from The Emerging Shield: The Air Force and
the
Evolution of Continental Air Defense 1945-1960, by Kenneth
Schaffel.
On March 2, 1950, a Joint Chiefs of
Staff (JCS)
meeting focused on establishing goals for a minimum air defense by
1952. The followoing month at a USAF Commanders Conference at Ramey
AFB, Puerto Rico, planners familiarized commanders with the
thinking behind the plan of minimum defense as well as with its
contents.Referred to as the Blue Book Plan, it
stipulated that a minimum air defense could be in place by mid-1952. It
was estimated that July 1, 1952, as the critical date when the Soviets
would pose a dangerous threat. General Charles Cabell expected the
Soviets to have between 45 and 90 atom bombs and 70 to 135 Tu-4 bombers
(copied B-29s) by that time.
In the area of strength, the Blue Book Plan specified a need for the Air Force to have 67 all-weather squadrons operating by 1952. As for deployment, Blue Book planners called for the squadrons to defend, in order of priority, the atomic weapons storage sites of SAC, the Hanford, Washington, atomic energy facility, and major American cities, with Washington and New York heading the list. (See pages 113-115) In June through August 1952 the "Summer Study Group," a
group
composed of 20 full-time scientists and engineers all with some
knowledge of air defense, met at MIT to further study the problem of
air defense. The Air Force had its own study on air defense at
the Lincoln Laboratory, also at MIT. ( See pages 174 and 177).
The Provost of MIT at this time was Dr. Julian
Stratton. He
received some very interesting letters from the CIA during late 1952
and early 1953, concerning UFOs.
First letter dated 3 December 1952
 These two commuications encompass the USAF/CIA Robertson
Panel of
late January 1953, to study the problem of UFOs. Many of the same
participants of the Robertson Panel were involved with the air
defense problems being stutied at MIT. Is a mere a coincidence that the
Summer Study Group's Final Report came out on February 1, 1953,
just after the Robertson Panel had concluded its study?
The
Robertson
Panel:
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY PANEL ON |
