In 1999, the French Institute of Advanced Studies for National Defense (government-funded military research organization) published a report titled “UFOs and Defense: What Should We Prepare For”.

Original report in French, 116 pages Summarized English version, 83 pages

The contributors to this report included, amongst others, top-level military officials like: Air Force General – Bernard Norlain, Air Force General – Denis Letty, Air Force General – Joseph Domange, Weapons Engineer General – Pierre Bescond, Air Force General – Bruno le Moine, Admiral – Marc Merlo, and Weapons Engineer General – Dr. Alain Orszag.

The goal of this report was to de-stigmatize the topic of UFOs so that civilian and government institutions would be better equipped to interact productively with UFO phenomenon. For example, in their abstract/synthese (page 16 of the original document) they summarize their 6 primary recommendations.

Create educational infrastructure about UFOs to better inform pilots, politicians, the military, and the civil service. Brief all organizations that deal with military research, especially special government organizations like DICOD (Délégation à l’information et à la communication de la Défense) Properly fund government-funded UFO research programs, and expand their investigatory capabilities like SEPRA (now GEIPAN) Tune space-based satellites to detect UFO activity Create a unit at the highest level of the government that would work in conjunction with SEPRA with the aim of promoting scientific and technical actions regarding UFOs leading to the development of international cooperation agreements. With the help of other countries, and institutions like the EU, encourage the USA to cooperate with us on the topic of UFOs.

The report is extremely interesting, and I highly recommend that everyone reads it. Here’s a section of their concluding remarks from the translated report, page 65

The UFO problem cannot be eliminated by mere caustic and offhand criticisms (…) CNES has conducted serious studies in close collaboration with the Gendarmerie National and the Air Force primarily, as well as with other State agencies (Civil Aviation, Weather Service, etc.). (…) These studies demonstrate the almost certain physical reality of completely unknown flying objects with remarkable flight performances and noiselessness, apparently operated by intelligent [beings]. With their maneuvers, these flying objects considerably impress civilian and military pilots, who hesitate to speak [about them]. The fear of appearing ridiculous, alienated, or simply gullible is the principal reason for this reserve. Secret craft definitely of earthly origin (drones, stealth aircraft, etc.) can only explain a minority of cases. If we go back far enough in time, we clearly perceive the limits of this explanation (…) The extraterrestrial hypothesis is far from the best scientific hypothesis. It certainly has not been categorically proven, but strong presumptions exist in its favor and if it is correct, it is loaded with consequences.

However, what captured my attention was Appendix 5 (page 94 of the English version), which presents a comprehensive timeline of the events at Roswell. It specifically focuses on the U.S. government’s efforts to create a disinformation campaign to keep the incident a secret in order to maintain potential technological and military superiority over rival countries.

I copy pasted Appendix 5 below. FYI, my mother tongue is French, and I can attest that the English version of Appendix 5 doesn’t omit any info from the original French Appendix 5.

The Roswell Affair – Disinformation

1. Roswell: indisputable facts — Note, the parenthetical annotation (video) indicates that video testimonies are available

Summer 1947 – The Roswell (New Mexico) base houses the only nuclear-armed bombers in the world. The bombers still have propellers. June 24 – Sighting of nine UFOs by American Kenneth Arnold. The news is broadcast throughout the world. July 8 (morning), Roswell – The base provides the local radio stations with information that would circle the globe: a flying disk had crashed on a ranch and the military personnel from the base recovered the debris (video). July 8 (afternoon), Fort Worth (Texas) – General Ramey, Commander of the 8th Air Force, who commands the base, announces to journalists that after examination of the debris, [it was determined that] they were from a weather balloon. He shows them some of the debris, which the journalists photograph. The affair was buried for over thirty years. 1978 – Lieutenant Colonel Marcel (ER), an intelligence officer on the base in 1947 who recovered the debris, declares on television that the debris is definitely of extraterrestrial origin (video). The debris that General Ramey had shown the journalists was not the debris that Marcel had brought him from Roswell. American ufologists conduct numerous investigations and collect affidavits (sworn and notarized written statements) and filmed testimonies. Many witnesses state that in July 1947, military personnel had threatened them with death if they talked (video). According to some testimonies, at some distance from the field of debris, the Army had found the frame of a sort of space glider and cadavers of small humanoids (video). 1991 – General du Bose [sic] (CR), who was General Ramey’s chief of staff in 1947, confirms by affidavit that the latter had substituted the debris from a weather balloon, which he had shown the journalists, for the debris sent by the Roswell base. Beginning of 1994 – U.S. Representative Schiff (New Mexico) asks the Department of Defense (DoD) for explanations regarding the affair. Not obtaining any, he requests that the General Accounting Office (GAO) conduct an inquiry into the manner in which the Air Force, primarily, had handled the documents relating to the Roswell crash. September 1994 – The Office of the Secretary of the Air Force publishes a report on Roswell: the debris found on the ranch cannot be from an aircraft or a missile. They are probably debris from a series of balloons from the secret Mogul project. To protect the secret, General Ramey leads everyone to believe it is a weather-balloon, the materials of which (essentially the shell and radar reflector) are the same. The report shortens the affidavits of certain witnesses so that the debris that they describe appears to be debris from a Mogul balloon. It does not mention the frame and attributes the “bona fide testimonies ” regarding humanoids to “foggy weather. ” July 1995 – The GAO report mentions the new Air Force version, and states: page 1, “The debate on what actually happened at Roswell continues. ” page 2, “All of the base’s administrative documents for the March 1945- December 1949 period were destroyed, and all radio messages sent by the base from October 1946 to February 1949 were destroyed. The destruction report does not mention when, by whom, and on whose orders this destruction was carried out. ” The GAO inquiry provided him with practically no documents of interest concerning the Roswell incident, despite his requests to numerous organizations (CIA, FBI, DoD, DoE. NSC. etc.) Summer and fall of 1995 -A film of the autopsy of an alleged “humanoid cadaver ” in 1947 is aired by about thirty television stations around the world. Its authenticity is questionable, but. above all, nothing in the film proves that the cadaver has even the slightest connection with the Roswell incident. The hodgepodge is, however, made up in large part from written and televised press, thus making the Roswell affair look ridiculous. The conclusions of the GAO and the videos of the principal witnesses presented by TFI [a French television channel] go unnoticed, lost in the middle of the film of the autopsy. 1996 – The film Independence Day and the [television] series X-Files make numerous references to Roswell.

2. Opinions on Roswell

Very consistent interviews, affidavits, and video testimonies describe the discovery of material that no one knows how to make in our time: a thin sheet that looks like metal with very great resistance and that is so elastic that after it has been crumpled up into a ball, it spontaneously returns to its initial shape without the least sign of a residual fold. It does seem that the crash occurred on July 4, Independence Day, at around 2330 hours. The date and time symbolize American power, whence the following question [arises]: if the crash was in fact that of an extraterrestrial vessel, was it truly an accident or a was it a deliberate crash constituting a message and/or authentication?

3. Roswell and disinformation

The disappearances of files and the Air Force’s clumsy attempts at explaining [the incident] show that U.S. military personnel are hiding something important that occurred at Roswell in July 1947, just as they concealed their experiments on the effects of plutonium. The hypothesis of an extraterrestrial vessel that is supported by quality testimonies cannot be dismissed.

To protect the secret, two main types of disinformation, simplified and enhanced, were used in the Roswell affair. It is advisable to note, however, that the dissemination of information and contradictory analyses – by ufologists, for example – may be a spill-over effect of this.

Simplified disinformation is apparent in the Air Force report: testimonies on the debris have been cut down so as to give credence to the Mogul balloon hypothesis. It is also found, more subtly, in Roswell in Perspective, a book by “ufologist” Karl Pflock, a former CIA and DoD employee: affidavits mentioning the tear-proof and crease-resistant material are given in full in an appendix, but they are ignored or cited only in shortened form in the text. In France, sociologist Pierre Lagrange appears to be a victim of this simplified disinformation.

After having endeavored to put the Air Force report and the publications of Karl Pflock into perspective, he concluded:

“[I will] close with a bit of psychology. Why do many people not believe in the Roswell saucer like they believe in Mogul balloons or the V2s? Because it reminds them too much of popular science fiction. As Bertrand Meheust emphasizes, the topic of the Martian craft that had the exquisite courtesy to crash in the vicinity of a military base comes under the heading of the technological imagination of the beginning of the century, just like the detail regarding the ultra-light and ultra-resistant materials that were used in its construction.” (the journal Ovnipresence, February 1995).

This is, on the whole, the simplistic theory concerning UFOs stated by French ‘”sociopsychologists.” It can be refuted as follows: at the beginning of the century, popular science fiction described light rays capable of killing or healing. Nonetheless, military or medical lasers exist today.

Enhanced disinformation was manifested when the film on the autopsy of the “Roswell creature” was aired. In expanding the Roswell affair with this spectacular, but questionable, autopsy, some have succeeded in discrediting it and, especially, in covering up the publication of the GAO report and the dissemination of video testimonies.

It is tempting to believe in a well-orchestrated manipulation.

4. Simplified disinformation on UFOs

The Air Force has practiced this from the onset, as has been revealed by the astronomer Hynek, who was an Air Force consultant from 1948 to 1966 and who described how he aided in trivializing numerous cases by giving them unjustified astronomical interpretations.

The disinformation policy was intensified as a result of the recommendations of a “scientific” committed assembled by the CIA in December 1952, the Robertson Committee, which suggested “stripping the UFO phenomenon of its aura of mystery.” The same committee recommended “monitoring ” the ufological movements, which were infiltrated by the CIA mainly.

Several key figures have tried to nullify numerous important cases. Philip Class, then editor of — Aviation Week and Space Technology — , took on, among others, three major aeronautical cases: Lakenheath in 1956, RB-47 in 1957, Tehran in 1976, which are described in Chapter 2. He is hardly convincing. In the Tehran case, for example, he correctly cites the testimonies at the beginning of his account, but doesn’t take certain aspects into account when he discusses them.

Simplified disinformation is effective on those who do not want to accept the possibility of the extraterrestrial hypothesis.

Enhanced disinformation is aimed at others.

5. Enhanced disinformation on UFOs

This policy was probably implemented very early on; Adamski’s alleged contacts with a Venusian in 1952 no doubt fall into this category.

It has become considerably extensive since the resurgence of the Roswell affair at the end of the 70s. The point of departure is the Bennewicz case. This ufologist physicist recorded pulsed microwaves from a testing ground at Kirtland (New Mexico) Air Force base. He attributed them to UFOs exerting control over “abductees” (kidnapped humans) furnished with implants!

Fearing. it seems, the publication of his recordings, the Air Force Office of Special Investigation (AFOS1) and, namely, its special agent Doty from the aforementioned air base, as well as, perhaps, other agencies, induced him to make fantastic “revelations”: there were numerous kidnappings, with the placement of implants to control the “abductees.” Furthermore, technology transfers were supposedly carried out on bases in New Mexico and Nevada jointly owned by the U.S. Army and extraterrestrials baptized EBEs, Extraterrestrial Biological Entities.

Bennewicz disclosed this information to American saucerists, much of which was increasingly cut off in this manner from the common opinion. John Lear, son of the aircraft builder, contributed on his part details that he had obtained from friends in the Air Force: the Nevada base is Groom Lake base, in “area 51” (Groom Lake does in fact exist; it is so secret that the Air Force does not recognize its existence; nevertheless, it is mentioned in the June 1996 issue of Jane’s Defence Weekly).

Later, a Marine officer from the 2nd Marine Division, Bill Cooper, “revealed” that the Council for Foreign Relations (CFR), which, according to him, governs the world through the Bilderberg [Group] and the Trilateral [Commission], supposedly does so in close union with the EBEs…

Enhanced disinformation has probably permitted the protection of research on microwave weapons at Kirtland and on new types of aircraft at Groom Lake.

It has certainly allowed the weapon of the ridiculous to be used against certain gullible ufologists.