The late Richard H. Hall, former NICAP Assistant Director,
Friday, 15 December 2017
UFO Article:
“Armstrong Circle Theater: AIR FORCE
CENSORSHIP OF TV BROADCAST ABOUT
UFOs STIRRED CONTROVERSY IN 1958”
By Richard H. Hall
(NICAP.org)
Quote from the article:
“In one of the more bizarre incidents of UFO history,
a major CBS Television broadcast about UFOs, sponsored by a large corporation,
was cut off the air when Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe, USMC (Ret.) departed from the
script and started to ad lib.
The ‘Armstrong Circle Theater,’ sponsored by the
Armstrong Cork Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was a popular program at
that time. The UFO discussion, broadcast on Jan. 22, 1958, was titled UFOs:
Enigma of the Skies. It had been carefully scripted under the strong influence
of the Air Force.
Frustrated by the continued efforts of the Air Force
to control what he wanted to say, Maj. Keyhoe started to announce that NICAP
(the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, which he directed)
had been working with a Senate committee to investigate UFO secrecy, when the
sound level of the audio - very obviously -- was abruptly cut.
When CBS-TV was deluged with phone calls, letters, and
telegrams protesting what appeared to be overt censorship, CBS justified the
action by stating:
‘This program had been carefully cleared for security
reasons....public interest was served by the action taken by CBS.’ ”
NICAP.org also presents a CBS Television letter and
the Project Blue Book file pertaining to the TV programme.
The late Richard H. Hall, former NICAP Assistant Director,
UFO Author & Researcher (cache.boston.com
photo)