Editing Project Blue Book (section)

====Robertson Panel====
{{Main|Robertson Panel}}

In July 1952, after a build-up of hundreds of sightings over the previous few months, a series of radar detections coincident with visual sightings were observed near the National Airport in Washington, D.C. (see [[1952 Washington D.C. UFO incident]]).

After much publicity, these sightings led the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] to establish a panel of scientists headed by [[Howard P. Robertson|H. P. Robertson]], a physicist of the California Institute of Technology, which included various physicists, meteorologists, and engineers, and one astronomer (Hynek). The Robertson Panel first met on January 14, 1953 in order to formulate a response to the overwhelming public interest in UFOs.

Ruppelt, Hynek, and others presented the best evidence, including movie footage, that had been collected by Blue Book. After spending 12 hours reviewing 6 years of data, the Robertson Panel concluded that most UFO reports had prosaic explanations and that all could be explained with further investigation, which they deemed not worth the effort.

In their final report, they stressed that low-grade, unverifiable UFO reports were overloading intelligence channels, with the risk of missing a genuine conventional threat to the U.S. Therefore, they recommended the Air Force de-emphasize the subject of UFOs and embark on a debunking campaign to lessen public interest. They suggested debunkery through the mass media, including [[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney Productions]], and using psychologists, astronomers, and celebrities to ridicule the phenomenon and put forward prosaic explanations.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Mirage Men: A Journey into Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs.|last=Pilkington|first=Mark|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|year=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQ3BBAAAQBAJ&q=%22walt+disney%22+ufo*+alien*+1955|pages=193–194|isbn=978-1849012409}}</ref> Furthermore, civilian UFO groups "should be watched because of their potentially great influence on mass thinking ... The apparent irresponsibility and the possible use of such groups for subversive purposes should be kept in mind."{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}}

It is the conclusion of many researchers<ref name=Blum/><ref name=clark>Jerome Clark, ''The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial'', 1998; Detroit: Visible Ink Press, {{ISBN|1578590299}}</ref> that the Robertson Panel was recommending controlling public opinion through a program of official propaganda and spying. They also believe these recommendations helped shape Air Force policy regarding UFO study not only immediately afterward, but also into the present day. There is evidence that the Panel's recommendations were being carried out at least two decades after its conclusions were issued (see the main article for details and citations).

In December 1953, Joint Army-Navy-Air Force Regulation number 146 made it a crime for military personnel to discuss classified UFO reports with unauthorized persons. Violators faced up to two years in prison and/or fines of up to $10,000.