The Flying Saucers are Real

The Flying Saucers are Real, by Donald Keyhoe

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Flying Saucers are Real, by Donald Keyhoe Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
Title: The Flying Saucers are Real
Author: Donald Keyhoe
Release Date: June, 2004 [EBook #5883] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on September 15, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE FLYING SAUCERS ARE REAL ***

This eBook was supplied by John B. Hare and Sacred-Texts.com.

The Flying Saucers Are Real
by Donald Keyhoe
Preface from Sacred-Text.com
This was one of the first books published about the UFO phenomena. We are fortunate that it ended up in the public domain.
It is a template for much of what would follow: the paranoia, the government disinformation, the inescapable conclusion that the saucers are not of this earth. Keyhoe, with his spare, matter of fact writing style, which also conveys a profound sense of wonder, has to be the prototype for the deadpan Fox Mulder of the X-Files.
On one hand we can see the birth of a key modern mythology. On the other, there is a body of almost naive evidence in this text unpolluted by that very mythology. The case studies are real. The witnesses were highly reliable. These cases are still unexplained.
THE FLYING SAUCERS ARE REAL
by Donald Keyhoe
New York

To Helen,
with love
Donald E. Keyhoe, who relates here his investigation of the flying saucers, writes with twenty-five years of experience in observing aeronautical developments.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. He flew in active service with the Marine Corps, managed the tour of the historic plane in which Bennett and Byrd made their North Pole flight, was aide to Charles Lindbergh after the famous Paris flight, and was chief of information for the Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce.

Author's Note
ON APRIL 27, 1949, the U.S. Air Force stated:
"The mere existence of some yet unidentified flying objects necessitates a constant vigilance on the part of Project 'Saucer' personnel, and on the part of the civilian population.
"Answers have been--and will be--drawn from such factors as guided missile research activity, balloons, astronomical phenomena. . . . But there are still question marks.
"Possibilities that the saucers are foreign aircraft have also been considered. . . . But observations based on nuclear power plant research in this country label as 'highly improbable' the existence on Earth of engines small enough to have Powered the saucers.
"Intelligent life on Mars . . . is not impossible but is completely unproven. The possibility of intelligent life on the Planet Venus is not considered completely unreasonable by astronomers.
"The saucers are not jokes. Neither are they cause for alarm." [1]
On December 27, 1949, the Air Force denied the existence of flying saucers.[2]
On December 30, 1949, the Air Force revealed part of a secret Project "Saucer" report to members of the press at Washington. The official report stated:
"It will never be possible to say with certainty that any individual did not see a space ship, an enemy missile, or some other object."
Discussing the motives of possible visitors from space, the report also stated:
"Such a civilization might observe that on Earth we now have atomic bombs and are fast developing rockets. In view of the past history of mankind, they should be
[1. Project "Saucer" Preliminary Study of Flying Saucers.
2. Air Force Press Release 629-49.'
{p. 6}
alarmed. We should therefore expect at this time above all to behold such visitations."
(In its April 22 report, Project "Saucer" stated that space travel outside the solar system is almost a certainty.)
On February 22, 1950, the Air Force again denied the existence of flying saucers. On this same date, two saucers reported above Key West Naval Air Station were tracked by radar; they were described as maneuvering at high speed fifty miles above the earth. The Air Force refused to comment.
On March 9, 1950, a large metallic disk was pursued by F-51 and jet fighters and observed by scores of Air Force officers at Wright Field, Ohio. On March 18, an Air Force