“CBS REPORTS: UFO
FRIEND, FOE OR FANTASY
WITH WALTER CRONKITE”
Source: theufochronicles.com, 18 July 2009
The Black Vault article: “Robertson Panel”:
http://www.theblackvault.com/wiki/index.php/Robertson_Panel
The Black Vault article: “Robertson Panel (part):
The Robertson Panel was a committee commissioned by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1952 in responses to widespread Unidentified Flying Object reports, especially in the Washington, D.C. area.
The Robertson Panel first met formally on January 14, 1953 under the direction of Howard Percy Robertson. He was a physicist, a CIA employee and director of the Defense Department Weapons Evaluation Group.
Other panel members were respected scientists and military personnel who had worked on other classified military projects or studies. All were then skeptical of UFO reports, though to varying degrees: Thornton Page, astrophysicist, deputy director of Johns Hopkins' Operations Research Office (was one of seven committee members).
The committee suggested the Air Force should begin a "debunking" effort to reduce "public gullibility" and demystify UFO reports. The panel suggested a public relations campaign, using psychiatrists, astronomers and assorted celebrities to significantly reduce public interest in UFO's. It was also recommended that the mass media be used for the debunking, including influential media giants like Walt Disney Corporation.
Many ufologists argue that the Robertson Panel recommendations were put into effect and the resulting official debunkery relegated the subject matter permanently to the fringe, both in the mainstream media and scientific communities. Also after the Robertson Panel, Project Blue Book was reduced in status and stripped of most of duties of investigating serious UFO cases, which were instead secretly turned over to a newly-formed division of the Air Defense Command. Directives were also issued not to discuss the unexplainable cases with the public and to reduce the percentage of unknowns to a minimum.
Though the CIA's official history suggests that the Robertson Panel's conclusions were never carried out, there is evidence that contradicts this. Perhaps the most unambiguous evidence for the Robertson Panel's covert impact on news media reporting about UFOs is a personal letter by Dr. Thornton Page, discovered in the Smithsonian archives by sociologist Michael D. Swords. The 1966 letter, addressed to former Robertson Panel Secretary Frederick C. Durant, confides that Page "helped organize the CBS TV show around the Robertson Panel conclusions." Page was no doubt referring to the CBS Reports TV broadcast of the same year, "UFOs: Friend, Foe or Fantasy?" narrated by Walter Cronkite. (Incidentally, this program was criticized for inaccurate and misleading presentations). Page's letter indicates that the Robertson Panel was still putting a negative spin on UFO news at least 13 years after the panel met.”
My comment:
In the above article we find clear evidence for the fact that Dr. Thornton Page helped organize the CBS UFO documentary, which was narrated by Walter Cronkite.
The CBS UFO TV news report regarding the 1973 U.S. UFO wave, which I posted an article about on 31 May 2009, makes a whole lot more sense after knowing that the CBS legend Walter Cronkite and CIA committee member Dr. Thornton Page collaborated on a UFO debunking documentary in 1966.
And what’s the picture today? Who knows?! One thing is for certain – I’ve never ever seen a U.S. TV news channel present a self obtained declassified U.S. government FOIA UFO document. Furthermore, I haven’t seen a single TV news channel in Europe present a ditto UFO document either. Why don’t TV news channels want to present previously top secret UFO facts, which have been collected by their own government?
Civilian UFO researchers, both in the U.S. and Europe, have after all unearthed thousands of previously classified government UFO documents during the last three decades.
Howard Percy Robertson, U.S.
CIA Consultant (1952-1954)
(nicap.org photo)
Astronomer Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the U.S. Air Force’s scientific consultant on UFOs, is featured in the documentary
Walter Cronkite produced and presented the documentary film,
“UFO: Friend, Foe Or Fantasy” (wikimedia.org photo)