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Senior ISIS information minister Wael Adel Salman killed in Syria after U.S. drone strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Sep 16 2016Marine national monument that will permanently protect nearly 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons and mountains off the coast of New England designated by President ObamaEnvironment Sep 15 2016Median household income up 5.2% for the first time in over seven years due to economic policies put in to place that benefit lower and middle income AmericansBusiness & Economy Sep 13 2016Poverty rate at its lowest level since 1999 due to economic policies put in to place that benefit lower and middle income AmericansBusiness & Economy Sep 13 2016Senior ISIS leader Abu Muhammad al-Adnani killed in Syria after U.S. airstrikeIslamic State (ISIS) Aug 30 2016Marine national monument that will permanently protect 582,578 square miles of land and sea in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands designated by President ObamaEnvironment Aug 26 201687,500 acres of wildlife, forests, rivers and mountains in Maine’s North Woods designated as a national monument that will be protected by the National Park ServiceEndangered Species Aug 24 2016Scientists researching the potential benefits of medical marijuana can apply to grow their own marijuana after the DEA lifted the ban limiting the number of institutions allowed grow the plantMedical Marijuana Aug 11 2016214 prisoners serving excessive and unfair prison sentences for nonviolent crimes have sentences commutedPardons Aug 03 2016Transgender Americans able to serve openly in the military after the Department of Defense lifted a ban prohibiting them from servingCivil & Human Rights Jul 01 2016All Freedom of Information request responses to be posted online after a successful pilot program was permanately expanded and signed into lawFreedom of Press Jun 30 2016Students who were defrauded or had their contract breached by a college or university can more easily petition to have their student loans forgiven under new rules by the Department of EducationHigher Education Jun 13 201642 prisoners serving excessive and unfair prison sentences for nonviolent crimes have sentences commutedSentencing Jun 03 2016President Obama becomes the first President to visit Hiroshima laying a wreath at Peace Memorial ParkInternational Relations May 27 2016Senior Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour killed in Pakistan after U.S. drone strikeTaliban May 22 2016Nutritional labels updated and modernized to better inform consumers of what they are purchasing under new labeling rules by the Food and Drug AdministrationHealth & Welfare May 20 2016Suggested maximum daily sugar amount added to nutritional labels for the first time under new labeling rules by the Food and Drug AdministrationHealth & Welfare May 20 2016First openly gay Secretary of the Army confirmed unanimously by the SenateCivil & Human Rights May 18 2016Over four million Americans to qualify for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours a week under new rule by the Labor Department that raised the salary threshold from $23,660 to $47,476 per yearLabor May 17 2016Environmentally dangerous methane emissions from the oil and gas sector regulated for the first time under new rule by the Environmental Protection AgencyFossil Fuels May 12 2016Transgender students in public schools must be allowed to use the bathrooms of their gender identity under new rule by the Obama AdministrationDiscrimination May 12 2016American bison named as the first national mammal after the National Bison Legacy Act was signed into lawGovernment May 09 2016Senior ISIS leader Abu Sa'ad al-Sudani killed in Syria after U.S. airstrikeIslamic State (ISIS) May 05 2016Stonewall Inn named the first national monument honoring the history of gays and lesbians in the United StatesCivil & Human Rights May 04 201640 ISIS operatives responsible for multiple attacks in Europe and the Middle East killed by Delta Force and Navy SEAL commandos during various raidsIslamic State (ISIS) Apr 27 2016First woman on American currency in more than 100 years will be Harriet Tubman after the Treasury Department announced she will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 billWomen's Rights Apr 20 2016Individuals investing in retirement accounts protected under new rule requiring financial advisers to provide investment advice that puts their client's best interests above all elseFinancial Regulation Apr 15 2016387,000 Americans unable to to work due to a permanent disability have their student loan debts forgiven by the Department of EducationEducation Apr 12 2016Homeowners taken advantage of by deceptive mortgage practices from Goldman Sachs to receive monetary relief after agreement between the bank and the Justice DepartmentLaws & Crime Apr 11 2016American banks must identify the owners of shell companies they do business with under a new rule by the Treasury DepartmentMonetary Policy Apr 10 2016Gender neutral restrooms available for White House staff and visitors so individuals can use the bathroom that conforms to their gender identityDiscrimination Apr 07 2016Senior Al-Qaeda leader Abu Firas al-Suri killed in Syria after U.S. air strikeAl-Qaeda Apr 04 2016Sentences reduced and adapted for 61 people serving excessive and unfair punishment in federal prison for nonviolent crimesSentencing Mar 30 2016ISIS Finance Minister Haji Iman killed during U.S. operationIslamic State (ISIS) Mar 25 2016Hazardous industrial material crystalline silica which is known to pose serious risks of incurable lung disease and lung cancer regulated to lower the allowable exposure limitHealth & Welfare Mar 23 2016Workers must be informed of their employers and its contractors direct or indirect persuading against forming a union under a new rule by the Labor DepartmentUnion Workers Mar 23 2016Cuban citizens witnessed Cuban President Raul Castro take questions from the media for the first time during press conference with President ObamaInternational Relations Mar 22 2016Public Wi-Fi areas in Cuba greatly expanded since American telecommunication companies were allowed to do business in the countryInternational Relations Mar 20 2016President Obama becomes the first U.S. President to visit Cuba since 1928 after successful diplomatic negotiationsInternational Relations Mar 20 2016General Lori Robinson becomes first woman nominated to lead a combatant command in the United States militaryWomen's Rights Mar 18 2016Senior ISIS leader Omar al-Shishani and 12 additional ISIS fighters killed in Syria after a series of U.S. drone and manned aircraft strikesIslamic State (ISIS) Mar 15 2016Offshore drilling off the Atlantic Coast prohibited after local communities voiced strong oppositionOffshore Drilling Mar 15 2016Cubans may open U.S. bank accounts under new rule by the Treasury and Commerce DepartmentsInternational Relations Mar 15 2016U.S. citizens may travel to Cuba for people-to-people educational reasons under new rule by the Treasury and Commerce DepartmentsInternational Relations Mar 15 2016150 Al-Shabaab fighters killed at Somalia training camp after U.S. air strikeTerrorism Mar 08 2016Senior Al-Shabaab leader Yusuf Ali Ugas killed in Somalia after U.S. air strikeTerrorism Mar 05 2016Senior Al-Shabaab leader Mohamed Mire killed in Somalia after U.S. air strikeTerrorism Mar 05 2016Senior unnamed ISIS operative captured and detained during U.S. led raid in IraqIslamic State (ISIS) Mar 03 2016Moderates winning a majority in Iran's parliament and Assembly of Experts partially attributed to improved diplomacy and landmark nuclear deal with major world powersInternational Relations Feb 29 2016Senior ISIS leader Noureddine Chouchane and over thirty ISIS militants killed in Libya after U.S. airstrikesIslamic State (ISIS) Feb 19 2016American citizens may fly to Cuba for the first time in 50 years after the two countries sign an agreement restoring commercial air travelInternational Relations Feb 16 2016All active duty service members eligible for 12 weeks of fully paid maternity leave through new rule by the Department of DefenseMilitary & Defense Jan 28 2016Juveniles in federal prisons can no longer be placed in solitary confinement after executive order by President ObamaPrisons Jan 25 2016Consumers who reduce their electricity use during peak hours receive a discount through new rule by the Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionEnergy Jan 25 2016Four United States citizens imprisoned in Iran released after a prisoner swap between the United States and IranInternational Relations Jan 16 2016Ten Yemeni detainees held at Guantanamo Bay for fourteen years transferred to OmanGuantanamo Bay Jan 14 2016New coal mining leases on public lands halted under new rule by the Department of InteriorFossil Fuels Jan 14 2016Ten Navy sailors detained by Iran after accidentally sailing into their waters freed within 24 hours through diplomatic negotiationsInternational Relations Jan 13 2016ISIS cash depot holding millions of dollars bombed in Mosul, Iraq by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Jan 11 2016Senior ISIS leader Abu Mohammed al-Adnani injured and detained in Iraq after U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Jan 07 2016Sentences reduced and adapted for 97 people serving excessive and unfair punishment in federal prison for nonviolent crimesSentencing Dec 18 2015Environmentally hazardous plastic microbeads found in personal care products banned from being manufactured in the U.S.Microbead-Free Waters Act Dec 18 2015Families with three or more children have their taxes reduced $200-$600 through the permanent expansion of the Child Tax CreditBipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Dec 18 2015College students can claim $2,500 towards tuition, fees, and course material on their taxes after the extension of the American Opportunity Tax CreditBipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Dec 18 2015Medical marijuana patients may purchase prescriptions without fear of arrest after DEA prohibited from raiding legal dispensariesBipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Dec 18 2015Solar and wind energy production to double in size through a five year extension of Federal tax creditsBipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Dec 18 2015World community pledges to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees celsiusEnvironment Dec 12 2015Teacher performance evaluations no longer based off student test results after passage of the Every Student Succeeds ActEvery Student Succeeds Act Dec 10 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Abdirahman Sandhere killed in Lybia by U.S. air strikeAl-Qaeda Dec 07 2015Female soldiers roles expanded to serve in any combat positionWomen's Rights Dec 03 2015Military personnel who handled service dogs in combat zones given first rights of adoption after the dog retires from dutyMilitary & Defense Nov 25 2015Senior ISIS leader Wisam al Zubaidi killed in Libya by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Nov 14 2015Senior ISIS leader Abu Nabil killed in Libya by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Nov 14 2015Senior ISIS leader Mohammed Emwazi (Jihadi John) killed in Syria by U.S. drone strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Nov 13 2015Senior ISIS leader Abu Nabil killed in Libya by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Nov 13 2015Veterans and their families offered in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities in all fifty statesVeterans Benefits Nov 11 2015Final phase of Keystone pipeline rejected because it would not serve the national interest of the United StatesOil & Gas Industry Nov 06 2015Federal job applicants can't be denied employment solely for having a prior convictionLaws & Crime Nov 02 2015Seventy hostages held by ISIS in Iraq rescued after joint operation with Iraqi soldiers and US special forcesIslamic State (ISIS) Oct 22 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Sanafi al-Nasr killed in Syria by U.S. air strikeAl-Qaeda Oct 18 2015Sentences reduced and adapted for 6,000 people serving excessive and unfair punishment in federal prison for nonviolent crimesSentencing Oct 06 2015First openly gay American nominated to become Secretary of the ArmyMilitary & Defense Sep 18 2015Employees of Federal government contractors must be offered seven days of paid sick leave per yearLabor Sep 07 2015Transgender Americans may not be discriminated against by health insurance companies or medical providersDiscrimination Sep 03 2015Tallest mountain in North America renamed Mount DenaliGovernment Aug 31 2015First openly transgender person hired by White House to work as civilian employeeCivil & Human Rights Aug 18 2015Each state must reduce carbon emissions by set amounts by 2030Global Warming Aug 04 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Muhsin al-Fadhli killed in Syria by U.S. air strikeTerrorism Jul 21 2015Sexual orientation discrimination against Federal employees ruled illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights ActProfiling Jul 16 2015Six major world powers reach agreement with Iran to curb their nuclear programNuclear Energy Jul 14 2015Sentences commuted for 46 people serving excessive & unfair punishment for nonviolent crimesPardons Jul 13 2015National monuments consist of 260 Million Acres throughout AmericaEnvironment Jul 12 2015United States and Cuba re-open embassies after 54 year diplomatic freezeTreaties & Agreements Jul 2015Government mandated threshold for all hourly workers to qualify for overtime pay increased from $23,660 to $50,440.Jobs Jun 30 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi killed in Yemen by U.S. drone strikeAl-Qaeda Jun 12 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Nasr al-Ansi killed in Yemen by a CIA-led U.S. drone strikeAl-Qaeda Apr 21 2015Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Actsigned into lawMedicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act Apr 16 2015New Medicare formula changes the way doctors are reimbursed; rewards doctors when their patients have better health outcomesHealth Care Industry Apr 16 201553 political prisoners in Cuba released as a show of good will in the ongoing restoratiation of diplomatic relationship between the two countriesInternational Relations Dec 17 2014United States restores diplomatic relationship with Cuba after 50 year freezeInternational Relations Dec 17 2014Abortion coverage extended to Peace Corps volunteers who became pregnant because of rape, incest, and life endangermentContinuing Appropriations Act of 2015 Dec 16 2014President Obama issues executive order allowing the parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents to continue residing in the United StatesImmigration Nov 20 2014President Obama pledges $3 Billion to global fund assisting poor countries coping with climate changeGlobal Warming Nov 14 2014China and the United States agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to twenty-five percent by 2030Global Warming Nov 12 2014Senior Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Godane killed in Somalia by U.S. airstrikeTerrorism Sep 05 2014Broad Coalition of Middle-Eastern countries conduct military campaign against ISIS inside of SyriaTerrorism Sep 2014President Obama signs executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminting against LGBT individualsCivil & Human Rights Jul 21 2014United States assumes control of weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium from Japan after the two countries signed an agreement to secure their stockpile to prevent it from theftNuclear Proliferation Mar 24 2014International Trade Data System created to streamline small business Export/Import processBusiness & Economy Feb 19 2014Minimum wage for Federal Contractors raised to $10.10 per hour.Minimum Wage Feb 12 2014Agriculture Act of 2014signed into lawAgriculture Act of 2014 Feb 07 2014Federal Government reopens after 16 day shutdown defeating Republican partisan attempt to cancel health care benefits for millions under ObamacareGovernment Shutdown Oct 17 2013President Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have first formal communication between the two nations in 35 yearsInternational Relations Sep 27 2013Syria agrees to dismantle chemical weapons stockpile after deal reached between the Obama Administration and RussiaTreaties & Agreements Sep 14 2013Defense of Marriage Act ruled unconstitutional by Supreme CourtCivil & Human Rights Jun 26 2013American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012signed into lawAmerican Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 Jan 02 2013Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng relocates to the United State after diplomatic agreement between China and the Obama administrationInternational Relations May 19 2012President Obama becomes first sitting president to publicly support marriage equalityCivil & Human Rights May 09 2012Senior Al-Qaida commander Fahd al-Quso killed in Yemen by a CIA-led U.S. drone strikeAl-Qaeda May 06 2012Members of Congress and certain government employees prohibited from using non-public information for personal profitSTOCK Act Apr 04 2012Federal unemployment benefits programs extended an additional 13 to 20 weeksMiddle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act Feb 22 2012Cuts in Medicare physician payment rates averted with extension of existing rates through 2012Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act Feb 22 2012Employee social security payroll tax reduction from 6.2% to 4.2 % extended through 2012Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act Feb 22 2012Self-employed social security payroll tax reduction from 12.4% to 10.4 % extended through 2012Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act Feb 22 2012U.S. drone attack in Yemen killed 12-15 militants, including at least four Al-Qaeda leadersAl-Qaeda Jan 30 2012Senior Al-Qaeda figure Aslam Awan killed in U.S. drone strikeAl-Qaeda Jan 2012War in Iraq ended with last American troops crossing border into Kuwait2003 Iraq War Dec 17 2011US government international campaign initiated to build respect for the human rights of LGBT persons worldwideDiscrimination Dec 06 2011$700 million annual funding for child protection, child abuse prevention, family support and adoption promotion through 2016Child and Family Services Improvement Act Sep 30 2011Senior Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen by a CIA-led U.S. drone strikeAl-Qaeda Sep 30 2011Entrepreneurs and businesses benefited by reduced average wait time for patent approvals from 3 years to 1 year.America Invents Act Sep 16 2011Patent litigation costs reduced through tightened patent standards, quality and processes to expedite challenges.America Invents Act Sep 16 2011Al-Qaeda's operations chief for Pakistan Abu Hafs al Shahri reported killed in U.S. Predator strikeAl-Qaeda Sep 11 2011U.S./Pakistani joint arrest of suspected Chief Al-Qaeda Younis al-Mauritani in QuettaAl-Qaeda Sep 06 2011Al-Qaeda No. 2 Atiyah Abd al-Rahman Killed in Pakistan by CIA predator drone strikeAl-Qaeda Aug 22 2011East Africa's Al-Qaeda senior leader Harun Fazul killed at security checkpoint in SomaliaAl-Qaeda Jun 07 2011Al-Qaeda Commander Ilyas Kashmiri Killed in U.S. Predator StrikeAl-Qaeda Jun 03 20116 senior Al-Qaeda figures killed in U.S. Air StrikeAl-Qaeda Jun 2011US Forces Kill Osama Bin Laden in PakistanAl-Qaeda May 02 2011Defense of Marriage Act declared unconstitutional and no longer defended in federal courts by the Obama AdministrationFeb 23 2011Number of US and Russian nuclear warheads deployed reduced by two-thirds by 2017New START Treaty Feb 05 2011Number of US and Russian strategic nuclear missile launchers reduced in half by 2017New START Treaty Feb 05 2011Small family farms selling locally exempted from federal regulations such as traceability and record keepingFood Safety Modernization Act Jan 04 2011Safety of imported food improved with new FSVP & VQIP programs that helps ensure it is safe, unadulterated and not misbrandedFood Safety Modernization Act Jan 04 2011Safety of U.S. grown food improved with requirements for large factory farms to register all food handlers and maintain records relating to food safetyFood Safety Modernization Act Jan 04 2011US sponsored measure to include “sexual orientation” in the definition of human rights adopted by the UN General Assembly, 122- 0.Discrimination Dec 22 2010Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the militaryDon't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act Dec 22 2010$193 million saved over five years by eliminating recruiting and retraining costs of replacing soldiers discharged due to DADTDon't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act Dec 22 2010$186 billion in tax relief for all tax payers by extending the Bush income tax cuts for 2010 & 20112010 Tax & Jobs Compromise Dec 17 2010$136 billion in tax relief for 21 million middle class households through patch to the Alternative Minimum Tax for 2010 & 20112010 Tax & Jobs Compromise Dec 17 2010$111 billion in tax relief for workers by a reducing social security payroll tax from 6.2% to 4.2% for 2011.2010 Tax & Jobs Compromise Dec 17 2010Unemployment benefits extended for 13 months at a cost of $56 billion2010 Tax & Jobs Compromise Dec 17 2010$40 billion in tax credits for college students and lower income families with children2010 Tax & Jobs Compromise Dec 17 2010Number of eligible children enrolled in school meal programs increased by approximately 115,000 studentsHealthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act Dec 13 2010Schools and communities provided resources to utilize local farms and gardens to provide fresh produce for school food programs.Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act Dec 13 2010$1.5 billion awarded to some 75,000 black farmers who were victims of discrimination in applying for farm loans from 1983 to 1997Claims Resolution Act Dec 08 2010$3.4 billion settlement for Native Americans against the US government arising from incorrect accounting for royalties on mineral leasesClaims Resolution Act Dec 08 2010Veteran work-study programs expanded to include congressional offices, state agencies and institutions of higher learningVeterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010On-the-job training opportunities expanded for veterans by reimbursing energy sector employers for training costs.Veterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010Insurance policy amounts and terms enhanced for severely disabled veteransVeterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010Service members receiving relocation orders protected from early termination fees for certain contracts and residential leasesVeterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010$10 million in job training, counseling, placement services, and child care services for homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with childrenVeterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010Disabled veterans provided improved independent assisted living services, automobile adaptive equipment and allowances for automobile purchaseVeterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010$30 billion lending program created for community banks with incentives to increase small business lendingSmall Business Jobs Act Sep 27 2010$12 billion in assistance for small businesses through eight separate tax cutsSmall Business Jobs Act Sep 27 2010Large disparity in jail sentences reduced for crack cocaine related offenses that disproportionately affected African AmericansFair Sentencing Act Aug 03 2010Long-term economic stability improved through new FDIC powers to liquidate failing financial firms such as insurance companies and non-bank financial companiesWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Borrowers protected from bad loans with rules and penalties requiring that lenders verify that they are able to repay the loans that they issueWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Financial Stability Oversight Council established to identify and monitor excessive risks to the U.S. financial systemWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Future economic downturns minimized with new rules and transparency regarding bank trading in credit default swaps and derivatives including the "Volker Rule"Wall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Risk in the financial system reduced with new SEC Office of Credit Ratings (OCR) to monitor credit rating agencies for conflict of interests & inaccuraciesWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010FDIC bank deposit insurance increased from $100,000 to $250,000Wall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Transparency of Federal Reserve improved with additional government oversight and new audits to be performed by the GAOWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established to promote fairness and transparency for mortgages, credit cards, and other consumer financial productsWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010U.S. drone attack killed 7 known terrorists, most notable Al-Qaeda operative from Egypt Hawza al JawfiAl-Qaeda Jun 29 2010Federal benefits extended to same sex partners of workers through memorandum by Obama administrationCivil & Human Rights Jun 02 2010Transgender Americans able to list their gender identity on their passports under rule issued by the State DepartmentCivil & Human Rights Jun 01 2010Al-Qaeda’s number three commander Sheik Saeed al-Masri killed in U.S. drone attackAl-Qaeda May 21 2010Family caregivers of veterans granted eligibility to VA counseling and mental health servicesCaregivers & Veterans Health Services Act May 05 2010Health care services improved and expanded for women veterans at Veterans care facilitiesCaregivers & Veterans Health Services Act May 05 2010Counseling and care enhanced for military women victims of sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)Caregivers & Veterans Health Services Act May 05 2010Care options expanded for veterans living in rural areas that lack the necessary VA medical facilitiesCaregivers & Veterans Health Services Act May 05 2010Housing and care options expanded for homeless veterans living in care sheltersCaregivers & Veterans Health Services Act May 05 2010Joint American and Iraqi operation killed Al-Qaeda leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-BaghdadiAl-Qaeda Apr 18 2010$68 billion to expand Pell grants & make it easier for students to repay outstanding loans after graduation through savings in the federal student loan programStudent Aid Act Mar 30 2010$2 billion investment to laid off workers for education and career training programs in community colleges over four years starting in 2010Student Aid Act Mar 30 2010People denied coverage for a pre-existing condition given access to a temporary high risk health insurance planObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Children under 19 can no longer be denied coverage or benefits for a pre-existing conditionObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Young adults can stay on parent's insurance plan up until age 26Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010$250 rebate for those in the Medicare Prescription drug "donut hole" during 2010Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 201050% discount on prescription drug costs for seniors in the Medicare "donut hole" starting in 2011Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Health care insurance plans prohibited from putting a lifetime limit on the benefits you receiveObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Annual dollar limits on health benefits restricted and phased out by 2014Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Insurers selling to groups of 50 or more employees must spend 85% of premiums on medical care and quality improvementObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Consumers guaranteed the right to choose the primary care doctor or pediatrician from their health plan’s provider networkObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010HIV Testing Will Now Be Covered Under ObamacareObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Consumers are guaranteed the right to appeal decisions made by their health insurance providerObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Women are no longer charged higher premiums because of their genderObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Preventative services will be covered at no additional costObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Insurance companies must provide consumers a short, easy to understand summary of their benefits and coverageObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Health insurance companies can not charge higher premiums for out of network emergency room careObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010People with a pre-existing condition cannot be denied health coverge by an insurance company starting in 2014Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010$143 billion in deficit reduction estimated between 2010-2019 from health care reform law provisionsObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Mental health and drug addiction coverage is an "essential benefit" that can not be deniedObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Insurance companies must spend 80% of the money raised from consumers premiums on health care and quality improvementObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Social Security payroll tax credits in 2010 for employers that hired people who have been unemployed for 60+ daysHire Act Mar 18 2010Tax credits to employers who keep new hires for 52 weeks to encourage retention of new hiresHire Act Mar 18 2010$17.5 billion in tax cuts, business credits and subsidies for state and local construction bonds to stimulate business investment and hiringHire Act Mar 18 2010$20 billion to the highway trust fund for spending on highway and transit programs.Hire Act Mar 18 2010Encourages job creation by expanding investments in schools and clean energy projectsHire Act Mar 18 2010Offsets costs through a 30 percent withholding tax on income from certain U.S. financial assets held by foreign banks who have not agreed to disclosures.Hire Act Mar 18 2010Al-Qaeda operative Hussein al-Yemeni killed by U.S. drone attack in PakistanAl-Qaeda Mar 2010Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam leader Qari Zafar killed in US airstrikeAl-Qaeda Feb 24 2010Militant commander Muhammad Haqqani killed by U.S. drone attacksTerrorism Feb 2010Discrimination based on gender identity banned in federal workplacesDiscrimination Jan 01 2010Liquidation of General Motors and Chrysler avoided through government mandated restructuring plans and conditional investment and loan programsManufacturing Industry 2009115,000 jobs created at General Motors and Chrysler since government financing and restructuring implementedJobs 20091.45 million American jobs saved overall by government financing and restructuring of GM and Chrysler to avoid liquidationJobs 2009$96 billion in personal income losses avoided by government financing and restructuring of GM and Chrysler to avoid liquidationLabor 2009$28.6 billion net public benefit in income taxes and social security taxes paid because liquidation of GM and Chrysler avoidedTaxes 2009Al-Qaeda Operational Commander Abdallah Sa’id killed in U.S. drone attackAl-Qaeda Dec 17 2009Al-Qaeda Operational Commander Saleh al-Somali killed in U.S. drone attackAl-Qaeda Dec 08 2009People with HIV/AIDS no longer prohibited from entering the United StatesDiscrimination Oct 30 2009Federal hate crime law expanded to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.Matthew Shepard Act Oct 28 2009Existing hate crime laws strengthened with funding to investigate and prosecute those crimesMatthew Shepard Act Oct 28 2009Operation Celestial Balance: Navy Seals Kill Somalian Al-Qaeda leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in raidAl-Qaeda Sep 14 2009Somalian Al-Qaeda leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan killed by U.S. raidAl-Qaeda Sep 14 2009White House voluntary disclosure of visitor logsSep 04 2009Co-founder of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Tohir Yo‘ldosh killed by U.S. drone attacksTerrorism Aug 29 2009U.S. drone attack killed Tehrik e-Taliban Pakistan leader Baitullah Mahsud in PakistanPakistani Taliban Aug 05 2009First-ever reception at the White House honoring Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered, Bisexual Pride Month hosted by the President and First ladyDiscrimination Jun 29 2009Sonya Sotomayor nominated and approved as Supreme Court justiceMay 25 2009Dept of Defense systems analysis, engineering and developmental testing processes overhauled to reduce high rates of failure on defense acquisitionsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Defense Dept ordered to evaluate the technological maturity and product knowledge of critical weapons' technologies before letting defense contractsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Independent cost assesessment director initiated to ensure that cost estimates for major Defense contracts are fair, reliable, and unbiasedWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Defense oversight council required to seek input from combat commanders in evaluating proposed weapons system capabilities and needsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Defense contractors prohibited from participating in both the systems engineering and the development /construction phases of the weapon systemsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Oversight and audit required of those major defense programs experiencing cost overruns to determine if the programs are essential and cost-effectiveWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Funding provided to hire and retain highly skilled specialists to assess the cost, schedule and applicability of proposed Defense Dept weapons systemsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Annual awards program established to recognize individuals and teams making significant contributions to improving efficiency of defense aquisition programsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Credit cardholders protected against arbitrary interest rate increases, hidden and excessive fees, and due date gimmicksCredit Card Act May 22 2009Homeowners' foreclosures avoided by improved terms for loan modification and restructuring of their debtHelping Families Save Their Homes May 20 2009Lenders incentivized to reduce foreclosures by loss mitigation guarantees, compensation and lender protection from lawsuits by investors holding the loansHelping Families Save Their Homes May 20 2009$2.2 billion appropriated to help communities address the homeless crisis.Helping Families Save Their Homes May 20 2009Financial Crisis Inquiry commission created to examine and report on the domestic and global causes of the 2008 - 2009 financial and economic crisisFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009Mortgage lending businesses added to list of financial institutions subject to Federal criminal law in fraudulent lending practicesFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009Crime of major fraud against the United States amended to include Federal grants made to stimulate economic recovery for fiscal years 2009 and 2010Fraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009Securities fraud definition amended to include fraud related to commodities futures and derivatives fraudFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$140 million in special funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$100 million in special funding for the offices of the United States Attorneys to investigate and prosecute fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$80 million in special funding to the criminal, civil and tax divisions of the Dept of Justice to investigate and prosecute fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$60 million in special funding for the Postal Inspection Service to investigate financial institutions for fraudFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$60 million in special funding for Inspector General's Office at the U S Dept of Housing and Urban Development to investigate financial institutions for fraudFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$40 million in special funding for the Secret Service to investigate financial institutions for fraudFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$42 million in special funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate securites fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009250,000 volunteers by 2017 for community service programs in low income neighborhoodsServe America Act Apr 21 2009Community volunteer program expanded to address the education, health care, energy and veterans needs of low income communitiesServe America Act Apr 21 2009Disadvantaged youth job opportunites enhanced by community service to gain skills/experience and earn education grants and stipendsServe America Act Apr 21 2009Restrictions eased on Cuba travel, money transfers, and cellular telephone/satellite service.International Relations Apr 13 2009Maersk Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips rescued during operation in which U.S. Navy Seal snipers kill three Somali Pirates holding him for ransom aboard lifeboatSomali Civil War Apr 11 2009Deeper recession or depression averted in 2009 and beyond with the help of stimulus bill provisions2009 Stimulus Bill Apr 01 2009Approximately 2.7 million jobs added to US payrolls and unemployment rate kept 1½ percentage points lower due to Stimulus spending2009 Stimulus Bill Apr 01 20092010 real GDP increased by about 3.4% due to stimulus spending2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009Tax credit of $400 per worker ($800 per couple) for middle income workers for 2009 & 2010 totaling $116 billion2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009$82.2 billion in aid for low income workers, unemployed and retirees (including job training)2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009$70 billion in tax relief for middle class workers by patching the Alternative Minimum Tax for one year2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009$155 billion in health care assistance for the poor & unemployed primarily for Medicaid, health information technology and insurance premium subsidies2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009$100 billion in education aid to prevent lay-offs, modernize schools, award Pell grants and help low income children & special education programs2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009$48.1 billion in investments for highway, bridge, high-speed rail & other transportation projects2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 20094 million more children insured under SCHIP in addition to the 6.6 million already coveredChildren's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Feb 04 2009Statute of limitations on filing equal-pay lawsuits eased by setting period to start from the date of the most recent paycheck.Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Jan 29 2009Pay discrimination based on gender, race, color, national origin, age and disability prohibited.Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Jan 29 2009Employers prompted to review, develop and update their criteria on employee compensation to ensure they are applied consistently and uniformly.Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Jan 29 2009Use of torture by CIA and military to interrogate prisoners prohibited.Torture Jan 21 2009

Obama led all of the following. I know yours is a partisan question, but I choose to answer it because so many who oppose Obama don’t really know anything about his presidency. And he managed all of this while Republican opponents were sitting on his chest. And that’s what you call determination and leadership.Senior ISIS information minister Wael Adel Salman killed in Syria after U.S. drone strike Islamic State (ISIS)Sep 16 2016Marine national monument that will permanently protect nearly 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons and mountains off the coast of New England designated by President Obama EnvironmentSep 15 2016Median household income up 5.2% for the first time in over seven years due to economic policies put in to place that benefit lower and middle income Americans Business & EconomySep 13 2016Poverty rate at its lowest level since 1999 due to economic policies put in to place that benefit lower and middle income AmericansBusiness & EconomySep 13 2016Senior ISIS leader Abu Muhammad al-Adnani killed in Syria after U.S. airstrikeIslamic State (ISIS)Aug 30 2016Marine national monument that will permanently protect 582,578 square miles of land and sea in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands designated by President ObamaEnvironmentAug 26 201687,500 acres of wildlife, forests, rivers and mountains in Maine’s North Woods designated as a national monument that will be protected by the National Park ServiceEndangered SpeciesAug 24 2016Scientists researching the potential benefits of medical marijuana can apply to grow their own marijuana after the DEA lifted the ban limiting the number of institutions allowed grow the plantMedical MarijuanaAug 11 2016214 prisoners serving excessive and unfair prison sentences for nonviolent crimes have sentences commutedPardonsAug 03 2016Transgender Americans able to serve openly in the military after the Department of Defense lifted a ban prohibiting them from servingCivil & Human RightsJul 01 2016All Freedom of Information request responses to be posted online after a successful pilot program was permanently expanded and signed into lawFreedom of PressJun 30 2016Students who were defrauded or had their contract breached by a college or university can more easily petition to have their student loans forgiven under new rules by the Department of EducationHigher EducationJun 13 201642 prisoners serving excessive and unfair prison sentences for nonviolent crimes have sentences commutedSentencingJun 03 2016President Obama becomes the first President to visit Hiroshima laying a wreath at Peace Memorial ParkInternational RelationsMay 27 2016Senior Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour killed in Pakistan after U.S. drone strikeTalibanMay 22 2016Nutritional labels updated and modernized to better inform consumers of what they are purchasing under new labeling rules by the Food and Drug AdministrationHealth & WelfareMay 20 2016Suggested maximum daily sugar amount added to nutritional labels for the first time under new labeling rules by the Food and Drug AdministrationHealth & WelfareMay 20 2016First openly gay Secretary of the Army confirmed unanimously by the SenateCivil & Human RightsMay 18 2016Over four million Americans to qualify for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours a week under new rule by the Labor Department that raised the salary threshold from $23,660 to $47,476 per yearLaborMay 17 2016Environmentally dangerous methane emissions from the oil and gas sector regulated for the first time under new rule by the Environmental Protection AgencyFossil FuelsMay 12 2016Transgender students in public schools must be allowed to use the bathrooms of their gender identity under new rule by the Obama AdministrationDiscriminationMay 12 2016American bison named as the first national mammal after the National Bison Legacy Act was signed into lawGovernmentMay 09 2016Senior ISIS leader Abu Sa'ad al-Sudani killed in Syria after U.S. airstrikeIslamic State (ISIS)May 05 2016Stonewall Inn named the first national monument honoring the history of gays and lesbians in the United StatesCivil & Human RightsMay 04 201640 ISIS operatives responsible for multiple attacks in Europe and the Middle East killed by Delta Force and Navy SEAL commandos during various raidsIslamic State (ISIS)Apr 27 2016First woman on American currency in more than 100 years will be Harriet Tubman after the Treasury Department announced she will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 billWomen's RightsApr 20 2016Individuals investing in retirement accounts protected under new rule requiring financial advisers to provide investment advice that puts their client's best interests above all elseFinancial RegulationApr 15 2016387,000 Americans unable to to work due to a permanent disability have their student loan debts forgiven by the Department of EducationEducationApr 12 2016Homeowners taken advantage of by deceptive mortgage practices from Goldman Sachs to receive monetary relief after agreement between the bank and the Justice DepartmentLaws & CrimeApr 11 2016American banks must identify the owners of shell companies they do business with under a new rule by the Treasury DepartmentMonetary PolicyApr 10 2016Gender neutral restrooms available for White House staff and visitors so individuals can use the bathroom that conforms to their gender identityDiscriminationApr 07 2016Senior Al-Qaeda leader Abu Firas al-Suri killed in Syria after U.S. air strikeAl-QaedaApr 04 2016Sentences reduced and adapted for 61 people serving excessive and unfair punishment in federal prison for nonviolent crimesSentencingMar 30 2016ISIS Finance Minister Haji Iman killed during U.S. operationIslamic State (ISIS)Mar 25 2016Hazardous industrial material crystalline silica which is known to pose serious risks of incurable lung disease and lung cancer regulated to lower the allowable exposure limitHealth & WelfareMar 23 2016Workers must be informed of their employers and its contractors direct or indirect persuading against forming a union under a new rule by the Labor DepartmentUnion WorkersMar 23 2016Cuban citizens witnessed Cuban President Raul Castro take questions from the media for the first time during press conference with President ObamaInternational RelationsMar 22 2016Public Wi-Fi areas in Cuba greatly expanded since American telecommunication companies were allowed to do business in the countryInternational RelationsMar 20 2016President Obama becomes the first U.S. President to visit Cuba since 1928 after successful diplomatic negotiationsInternational RelationsMar 20 2016General Lori Robinson becomes first woman nominated to lead a combatant command in the United States militaryWomen's RightsMar 18 2016Senior ISIS leader Omar al-Shishani and 12 additional ISIS fighters killed in Syria after a series of U.S. drone and manned aircraft strikesIslamic State (ISIS)Mar 15 2016Offshore drilling off the Atlantic Coast prohibited after local communities voiced strong oppositionOffshore DrillingMar 15 2016Cubans may open U.S. bank accounts under new rule by the Treasury and Commerce DepartmentsInternational RelationsMar 15 2016U.S. citizens may travel to Cuba for people-to-people educational reasons under new rule by the Treasury and Commerce DepartmentsInternational RelationsMar 15 2016150 Al-Shabaab fighters killed at Somalia training camp after U.S. air strikeTerrorismMar 08 2016Senior Al-Shabaab leader Yusuf Ali Ugas killed in Somalia after U.S. air strikeTerrorismMar 05 2016Senior Al-Shabaab leader Mohamed Mire killed in Somalia after U.S. air strikeTerrorismMar 05 2016Senior unnamed ISIS operative captured and detained during U.S. led raid in IraqIslamic State (ISIS)Mar 03 2016Moderates winning a majority in Iran's parliament and Assembly of Experts partially attributed to improved diplomacy and landmark nuclear deal with major world powersInternational RelationsFeb 29 2016Senior ISIS leader Noureddine Chouchane and over thirty ISIS militants killed in Libya after U.S. airstrikesIslamic State (ISIS)Feb 19 2016American citizens may fly to Cuba for the first time in 50 years after the two countries sign an agreement restoring commercial air travelInternational RelationsFeb 16 2016All active duty service members eligible for 12 weeks of fully paid maternity leave through new rule by the Department of DefenseMilitary & DefenseJan 28 2016Juveniles in federal prisons can no longer be placed in solitary confinement after executive order by President ObamaPrisonsJan 25 2016Consumers who reduce their electricity use during peak hours receive a discount through new rule by the Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionEnergyJan 25 2016Four United States citizens imprisoned in Iran released after a prisoner swap between the United States and IranInternational RelationsJan 16 2016Ten Yemeni detainees held at Guantanamo Bay for fourteen years transferred to OmanGuantanamo BayJan 14 2016New coal mining leases on public lands halted under new rule by the Department of InteriorFossil FuelsJan 14 2016Ten Navy sailors detained by Iran after accidentally sailing into their waters freed within 24 hours through diplomatic negotiationsInternational RelationsJan 13 2016ISIS cash depot holding millions of dollars bombed in Mosul, Iraq by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS)Jan 11 2016Senior ISIS leader Abu Mohammed al-Adnani injured and detained in Iraq after U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS)Jan 07 2016Sentences reduced and adapted for 97 people serving excessive and unfair punishment in federal prison for nonviolent crimesSentencingDec 18 2015Environmentally hazardous plastic microbeads found in personal care products banned from being manufactured in the U.S.Microbead-Free Waters ActDec 18 2015Families with three or more children have their taxes reduced $200-$600 through the permanent expansion of the Child Tax CreditBipartisan Budget Act of 2015Dec 18 2015College students can claim $2,500 towards tuition, fees, and course material on their taxes after the extension of the American Opportunity Tax CreditBipartisan Budget Act of 2015Dec 18 2015Medical marijuana patients may purchase prescriptions without fear of arrest after DEA prohibited from raiding legal dispensariesBipartisan Budget Act of 2015Dec 18 2015Solar and wind energy production to double in size through a five year extension of Federal tax creditsBipartisan Budget Act of 2015Dec 18 2015World community pledges to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees celsiusEnvironmentDec 12 2015Teacher performance evaluations no longer based off student test results after passage of the Every Student Succeeds ActEvery Student Succeeds ActDec 10 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Abdirahman Sandhere killed in Lybia by U.S. air strikeAl-QaedaDec 07 2015Female soldiers roles expanded to serve in any combat positionWomen's RightsDec 03 2015Military personnel who handled service dogs in combat zones given first rights of adoption after the dog retires from dutyMilitary & DefenseNov 25 2015Senior ISIS leader Wisam al Zubaidi killed in Libya by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS)Nov 14 2015Senior ISIS leader Abu Nabil killed in Libya by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS)Nov 14 2015Senior ISIS leader Mohammed Emwazi (Jihadi John) killed in Syria by U.S. drone strikeIslamic State (ISIS)Nov 13 2015Senior ISIS leader Abu Nabil killed in Libya by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS)Nov 13 2015Veterans and their families offered in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities in all fifty statesVeterans BenefitsNov 11 2015Final phase of Keystone pipeline rejected because it would not serve the national interest of the United StatesOil & Gas IndustryNov 06 2015Federal job applicants can't be denied employment solely for having a prior convictionLaws & CrimeNov 02 2015Seventy hostages held by ISIS in Iraq rescued after joint operation with Iraqi soldiers and US special forcesIslamic State (ISIS)Oct 22 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Sanafi al-Nasr killed in Syria by U.S. air strikeAl-QaedaOct 18 2015Sentences reduced and adapted for 6,000 people serving excessive and unfair punishment in federal prison for nonviolent crimesSentencingOct 06 2015First openly gay American nominated to become Secretary of the ArmyMilitary & DefenseSep 18 2015Employees of Federal government contractors must be offered seven days of paid sick leave per yearLaborSep 07 2015Transgender Americans may not be discriminated against by health insurance companies or medical providersDiscriminationSep 03 2015Tallest mountain in North America renamed Mount DenaliGovernmentAug 31 2015First openly transgender person hired by White House to work as civilian employeeCivil & Human RightsAug 18 2015Each state must reduce carbon emissions by set amounts by 2030Global WarmingAug 04 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Muhsin al-Fadhli killed in Syria by U.S. air strikeTerrorismJul 21 2015Sexual orientation discrimination against Federal employees ruled illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights ActProfilingJul 16 2015Six major world powers reach agreement with Iran to curb their nuclear programNuclear EnergyJul 14 2015Sentences commuted for 46 people serving excessive & unfair punishment for nonviolent crimesPardonsJul 13 2015National monuments consist of 260 Million Acres throughout AmericaEnvironmentJul 12 2015United States and Cuba re-open embassies after 54 year diplomatic freezeTreaties & AgreementsJul 2015Government mandated threshold for all hourly workers to qualify for overtime pay increased from $23,660 to $50,440.JobsJun 30 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi killed in Yemen by U.S. drone strikeAl-QaedaJun 12 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Nasr al-Ansi killed in Yemen by a CIA-led U.S. drone strikeAl-QaedaApr 21 2015Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Actsigned into lawMedicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization ActApr 16 2015New Medicare formula changes the way doctors are reimbursed; rewards doctors when their patients have better health outcomesHealth Care IndustryApr 16 201553 political prisoners in Cuba released as a show of good will in the ongoing restoratiation of diplomatic relationship between the two countriesInternational RelationsDec 17 2014United States restores diplomatic relationship with Cuba after 50 year freezeInternational RelationsDec 17 2014Abortion coverage extended to Peace Corps volunteers who became pregnant because of rape, incest, and life endangermentContinuing Appropriations Act of 2015Dec 16 2014President Obama issues executive order allowing the parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents to continue residing in the United StatesImmigrationNov 20 2014President Obama pledges $3 Billion to global fund assisting poor countries coping with climate changeGlobal WarmingNov 14 2014China and the United States agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to twenty-five percent by 2030Global WarmingNov 12 2014Senior Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Godane killed in Somalia by U.S. airstrikeTerrorismSep 05 2014Broad Coalition of Middle-Eastern countries conduct military campaign against ISIS inside of SyriaTerrorismSep 2014President Obama signs executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminting against LGBT individualsCivil & Human RightsJul 21 2014United States assumes control of weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium from Japan after the two countries signed an agreement to secure their stockpile to prevent it from theftNuclear ProliferationMar 24 2014International Trade Data System created to streamline small business Export/Import processBusiness & EconomyFeb 19 2014Minimum wage for Federal Contractors raised to $10.10 per hour.Minimum WageFeb 12 2014Agriculture Act of 2014signed into lawAgriculture Act of 2014Feb 07 2014Federal Government reopens after 16 day shutdown defeating Republican partisan attempt to cancel health care benefits for millions under ObamacareGovernment ShutdownOct 17 2013President Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have first formal communication between the two nations in 35 yearsInternational RelationsSep 27 2013Syria agrees to dismantle chemical weapons stockpile after deal reached between the Obama Administration and RussiaTreaties & AgreementsSep 14 2013Defense of Marriage Act ruled unconstitutional by Supreme CourtCivil & Human RightsJun 26 2013American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012signed into lawAmerican Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012Jan 02 2013Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng relocates to the United State after diplomatic agreement between China and the Obama administrationInternational RelationsMay 19 2012President Obama becomes first sitting president to publicly support marriage equalityCivil & Human RightsMay 09 2012Senior Al-Qaida commander Fahd al-Quso killed in Yemen by a CIA-led U.S. drone strikeAl-QaedaMay 06 2012Members of Congress and certain government employees prohibited from using non-public information for personal profitSTOCK ActApr 04 2012Federal unemployment benefits programs extended an additional 13 to 20 weeksMiddle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation ActFeb 22 2012Cuts in Medicare physician payment rates averted with extension of existing rates through 2012Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation ActFeb 22 2012Employee social security payroll tax reduction from 6.2% to 4.2 % extended through 2012Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation ActFeb 22 2012Self-employed social security payroll tax reduction from 12.4% to 10.4 % extended through 2012Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation ActFeb 22 2012U.S. drone attack in Yemen killed 12-15 militants, including at least four Al-Qaeda leadersAl-QaedaJan 30 2012Senior Al-Qaeda figure Aslam Awan killed in U.S. drone strikeAl-QaedaJan 2012War in Iraq ended with last American troops crossing border into Kuwait2003 Iraq WarDec 17 2011US government international campaign initiated to build respect for the human rights of LGBT persons worldwideDiscriminationDec 06 2011$700 million annual funding for child protection, child abuse prevention, family support and adoption promotion through 2016Child and Family Services Improvement ActSep 30 2011Senior Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen by a CIA-led U.S. drone strikeAl-QaedaSep 30 2011Entrepreneurs and businesses benefited by reduced average wait time for patent approvals from 3 years to 1 year.America Invents ActSep 16 2011Patent litigation costs reduced through tightened patent standards, quality and processes to expedite challenges.America Invents ActSep 16 2011Al-Qaeda's operations chief for Pakistan Abu Hafs al Shahri reported killed in U.S. Predator strikeAl-QaedaSep 11 2011U.S./Pakistani joint arrest of suspected Chief Al-Qaeda Younis al-Mauritani in QuettaAl-QaedaSep 06 2011Al-Qaeda No. 2 Atiyah Abd al-Rahman Killed in Pakistan by CIA predator drone strikeAl-QaedaAug 22 2011East Africa's Al-Qaeda senior leader Harun Fazul killed at security checkpoint in SomaliaAl-QaedaJun 07 2011Al-Qaeda Commander Ilyas Kashmiri Killed in U.S. Predator StrikeAl-QaedaJun 03 20116 senior Al-Qaeda figures killed in U.S. Air StrikeAl-QaedaJun 2011US Forces Kill Osama Bin Laden in PakistanAl-QaedaMay 02 2011Defense of Marriage Act declared unconstitutional and no longer defended in federal courts by the Obama AdministrationFeb 23 2011Number of US and Russian nuclear warheads deployed reduced by two-thirds by 2017New START TreatyFeb 05 2011Number of US and Russian strategic nuclear missile launchers reduced in half by 2017New START TreatyFeb 05 2011Small family farms selling locally exempted from federal regulations such as traceability and record keepingFood Safety Modernization ActJan 04 2011Safety of imported food improved with new FSVP & VQIP programs that helps ensure it is safe, unadulterated and not misbrandedFood Safety Modernization ActJan 04 2011Safety of U.S. grown food improved with requirements for large factory farms to register all food handlers and maintain records relating to food safetyFood Safety Modernization ActJan 04 2011US sponsored measure to include “sexual orientation” in the definition of human rights adopted by the UN General Assembly, 122- 0.DiscriminationDec 22 2010Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the militaryDon't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal ActDec 22 2010$193 million saved over five years by eliminating recruiting and retraining costs of replacing soldiers discharged due to DADTDon't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal ActDec 22 2010$186 billion in tax relief for all tax payers by extending the Bush income tax cuts for 2010 & 20112010 Tax & Jobs CompromiseDec 17 2010$136 billion in tax relief for 21 million middle class households through patch to the Alternative Minimum Tax for 2010 & 20112010 Tax & Jobs CompromiseDec 17 2010$111 billion in tax relief for workers by a reducing social security payroll tax from 6.2% to 4.2% for 2011.2010 Tax & Jobs CompromiseDec 17 2010Unemployment benefits extended for 13 months at a cost of $56 billion2010 Tax & Jobs CompromiseDec 17 2010$40 billion in tax credits for college students and lower income families with children2010 Tax & Jobs CompromiseDec 17 2010Number of eligible children enrolled in school meal programs increased by approximately 115,000 studentsHealthy, Hunger-Free Kids ActDec 13 2010Schools and communities provided resources to utilize local farms and gardens to provide fresh produce for school food programs.Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids ActDec 13 2010$1.5 billion awarded to some 75,000 black farmers who were victims of discrimination in applying for farm loans from 1983 to 1997Claims Resolution ActDec 08 2010$3.4 billion settlement for Native Americans against the US government arising from incorrect accounting for royalties on mineral leasesClaims Resolution ActDec 08 2010Veteran work-study programs expanded to include congressional offices, state agencies and institutions of higher learningVeterans' Benefit ActOct 14 2010On-the-job training opportunities expanded for veterans by reimbursing energy sector employers for training costs.Veterans' Benefit ActOct 14 2010Insurance policy amounts and terms enhanced for severely disabled veteransVeterans' Benefit ActOct 14 2010Service members receiving relocation orders protected from early termination fees for certain contracts and residential leasesVeterans' Benefit ActOct 14 2010$10 million in job training, counseling, placement services, and child care services for homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with childrenVeterans' Benefit ActOct 14 2010Disabled veterans provided improved independent assisted living services, automobile adaptive equipment and allowances for automobile purchaseVeterans' Benefit ActOct 14 2010$30 billion lending program created for community banks with incentives to increase small business lendingSmall Business Jobs ActSep 27 2010$12 billion in assistance for small businesses through eight separate tax cutsSmall Business Jobs ActSep 27 2010Large disparity in jail sentences reduced for crack cocaine related offenses that disproportionately affected African AmericansFair Sentencing ActAug 03 2010Long-term economic stability improved through new FDIC powers to liquidate failing financial firms such as insurance companies and non-bank financial companiesWall Street Reform ActJul 22 2010Borrowers protected from bad loans with rules and penalties requiring that lenders verify that they are able to repay the loans that they issueWall Street Reform ActJul 22 2010Financial Stability Oversight Council established to identify and monitor excessive risks to the U.S. financial systemWall Street Reform ActJul 22 2010Future economic downturns minimized with new rules and transparency regarding bank trading in credit default swaps and derivatives including the "Volker Rule"Wall Street Reform ActJul 22 2010Risk in the financial system reduced with new SEC Office of Credit Ratings (OCR) to monitor credit rating agencies for conflict of interests & inaccuraciesWall Street Reform ActJul 22 2010FDIC bank deposit insurance increased from $100,000 to $250,000Wall Street Reform ActJul 22 2010Transparency of Federal Reserve improved with additional government oversight and new audits to be performed by the GAOWall Street Reform ActJul 22 2010Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established to promote fairness and transparency for mortgages, credit cards, and other consumer financial productsWall Street Reform ActJul 22 2010U.S. drone attack killed 7 known terrorists, most notable Al-Qaeda operative from Egypt Hawza al JawfiAl-QaedaJun 29 2010Federal benefits extended to same sex partners of workers through memorandum by Obama administrationCivil & Human RightsJun 02 2010Transgender Americans able to list their gender identity on their passports under rule issued by the State DepartmentCivil & Human RightsJun 01 2010Al-Qaeda’s number three commander Sheik Saeed al-Masri killed in U.S. drone attackAl-QaedaMay 21 2010Family caregivers of veterans granted eligibility to VA counseling and mental health servicesCaregivers & Veterans Health Services ActMay 05 2010Health care services improved and expanded for women veterans at Veterans care facilitiesCaregivers & Veterans Health Services ActMay 05 2010Counseling and care enhanced for military women victims of sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)Caregivers & Veterans Health Services ActMay 05 2010Care options expanded for veterans living in rural areas that lack the necessary VA medical facilitiesCaregivers & Veterans Health Services ActMay 05 2010Housing and care options expanded for homeless veterans living in care sheltersCaregivers & Veterans Health Services ActMay 05 2010Joint American and Iraqi operation killed Al-Qaeda leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-BaghdadiAl-QaedaApr 18 2010$68 billion to expand Pell grants & make it easier for students to repay outstanding loans after graduation through savings in the federal student loan programStudent Aid ActMar 30 2010$2 billion investment to laid off workers for education and career training programs in community colleges over four years starting in 2010Student Aid ActMar 30 2010People denied coverage for a pre-existing condition given access to a temporary high risk health insurance planObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Children under 19 can no longer be denied coverage or benefits for a pre-existing conditionObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Young adults can stay on parent's insurance plan up until age 26Obamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010$250 rebate for those in the Medicare Prescription drug "donut hole" during 2010Obamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 201050% discount on prescription drug costs for seniors in the Medicare "donut hole" starting in 2011Obamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Health care insurance plans prohibited from putting a lifetime limit on the benefits you receiveObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Annual dollar limits on health benefits restricted and phased out by 2014Obamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Insurers selling to groups of 50 or more employees must spend 85% of premiums on medical care and quality improvementObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Consumers guaranteed the right to choose the primary care doctor or pediatrician from their health plan’s provider networkObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010HIV Testing Will Now Be Covered Under ObamacareObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Consumers are guaranteed the right to appeal decisions made by their health insurance providerObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Women are no longer charged higher premiums because of their genderObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Preventative services will be covered at no additional costObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Insurance companies must provide consumers a short, easy to understand summary of their benefits and coverageObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Health insurance companies can not charge higher premiums for out of network emergency room careObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010People with a pre-existing condition cannot be denied health coverge by an insurance company starting in 2014Obamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010$143 billion in deficit reduction estimated between 2010-2019 from health care reform law provisionsObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Mental health and drug addiction coverage is an "essential benefit" that can not be deniedObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Insurance companies must spend 80% of the money raised from consumers premiums on health care and quality improvementObamacare (Affordable Care Act)Mar 23 2010Social Security payroll tax credits in 2010 for employers that hired people who have been unemployed for 60+ daysHire ActMar 18 2010Tax credits to employers who keep new hires for 52 weeks to encourage retention of new hiresHire ActMar 18 2010$17.5 billion in tax cuts, business credits and subsidies for state and local construction bonds to stimulate business investment and hiringHire ActMar 18 2010$20 billion to the highway trust fund for spending on highway and transit programs.Hire ActMar 18 2010Encourages job creation by expanding investments in schools and clean energy projectsHire ActMar 18 2010Offsets costs through a 30 percent withholding tax on income from certain U.S. financial assets held by foreign banks who have not agreed to disclosures.Hire ActMar 18 2010Al-Qaeda operative Hussein al-Yemeni killed by U.S. drone attack in PakistanAl-QaedaMar 2010Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam leader Qari Zafar killed in US airstrikeAl-QaedaFeb 24 2010Militant commander Muhammad Haqqani killed by U.S. drone attacksTerrorismFeb 2010Discrimination based on gender identity banned in federal workplacesDiscriminationJan 01 2010Liquidation of General Motors and Chrysler avoided through government mandated restructuring plans and conditional investment and loan programsManufacturing Industry2009115,000 jobs created at General Motors and Chrysler since government financing and restructuring implementedJobs20091.45 million American jobs saved overall by government financing and restructuring of GM and Chrysler to avoid liquidationJobs2009$96 billion in personal income losses avoided by government financing and restructuring of GM and Chrysler to avoid liquidationLabor2009$28.6 billion net public benefit in income taxes and social security taxes paid because liquidation of GM and Chrysler avoidedTaxes2009Al-Qaeda Operational Commander Abdallah Sa’id killed in U.S. drone attackAl-QaedaDec 17 2009Al-Qaeda Operational Commander Saleh al-Somali killed in U.S. drone attackAl-QaedaDec 08 2009People with HIV/AIDS no longer prohibited from entering the United StatesDiscriminationOct 30 2009Federal hate crime law expanded to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.Matthew Shepard ActOct 28 2009Existing hate crime laws strengthened with funding to investigate and prosecute those crimesMatthew Shepard ActOct 28 2009Operation Celestial Balance: Navy Seals Kill Somalian Al-Qaeda leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in raidAl-QaedaSep 14 2009Somalian Al-Qaeda leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan killed by U.S. raidAl-QaedaSep 14 2009White House voluntary disclosure of visitor logsSep 04 2009Co-founder of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Tohir Yo‘ldosh killed by U.S. drone attacksTerrorismAug 29 2009U.S. drone attack killed Tehrik e-Taliban Pakistan leader Baitullah Mahsud in PakistanPakistani TalibanAug 05 2009First-ever reception at the White House honoring Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered, Bisexual Pride Month hosted by the President and First ladyDiscriminationJun 29 2009Sonya Sotomayor nominated and approved as Supreme Court justiceMay 25 2009Dept of Defense systems analysis, engineering and developmental testing processes overhauled to reduce high rates of failure on defense acquisitionsWeapons Systems Acquisition ReformMay 22 2009Defense Dept ordered to evaluate the technological maturity and product knowledge of critical weapons' technologies before letting defense contractsWeapons Systems Acquisition ReformMay 22 2009Independent cost assesessment director initiated to ensure that cost estimates for major Defense contracts are fair, reliable, and unbiasedWeapons Systems Acquisition ReformMay 22 2009Defense oversight council required to seek input from combat commanders in evaluating proposed weapons system capabilities and needsWeapons Systems Acquisition ReformMay 22 2009Defense contractors prohibited from participating in both the systems engineering and the development /construction phases of the weapon systemsWeapons Systems Acquisition ReformMay 22 2009Oversight and audit required of those major defense programs experiencing cost overruns to determine if the programs are essential and cost-effectiveWeapons Systems Acquisition ReformMay 22 2009Funding provided to hire and retain highly skilled specialists to assess the cost, schedule and applicability of proposed Defense Dept weapons systemsWeapons Systems Acquisition ReformMay 22 2009Annual awards program established to recognize individuals and teams making significant contributions to improving efficiency of defense aquisition programsWeapons Systems Acquisition ReformMay 22 2009Credit cardholders protected against arbitrary interest rate increases, hidden and excessive fees, and due date gimmicksCredit Card ActMay 22 2009Homeowners' foreclosures avoided by improved terms for loan modification and restructuring of their debtHelping Families Save Their HomesMay 20 2009Lenders incentivized to reduce foreclosures by loss mitigation guarantees, compensation and lender protection from lawsuits by investors holding the loansHelping Families Save Their HomesMay 20 2009$2.2 billion appropriated to help communities address the homeless crisis.Helping Families Save Their HomesMay 20 2009Financial Crisis Inquiry commission created to examine and report on the domestic and global causes of the 2008 - 2009 financial and economic crisisFraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009Mortgage lending businesses added to list of financial institutions subject to Federal criminal law in fraudulent lending practicesFraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009Crime of major fraud against the United States amended to include Federal grants made to stimulate economic recovery for fiscal years 2009 and 2010Fraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009Securities fraud definition amended to include fraud related to commodities futures and derivatives fraudFraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009$140 million in special funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009$100 million in special funding for the offices of the United States Attorneys to investigate and prosecute fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009$80 million in special funding to the criminal, civil and tax divisions of the Dept of Justice to investigate and prosecute fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009$60 million in special funding for the Postal Inspection Service to investigate financial institutions for fraudFraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009$60 million in special funding for Inspector General's Office at the U S Dept of Housing and Urban Development to investigate financial institutions for fraudFraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009$40 million in special funding for the Secret Service to investigate financial institutions for fraudFraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009$42 million in special funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate securites fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement ActMay 20 2009250,000 volunteers by 2017 for community service programs in low income neighborhoodsServe America ActApr 21 2009Community volunteer program expanded to address the education, health care, energy and veterans needs of low income communitiesServe America ActApr 21 2009Disadvantaged youth job opportunites enhanced by community service to gain skills/experience and earn education grants and stipendsServe America ActApr 21 2009Restrictions eased on Cuba travel, money transfers, and cellular telephone/satellite service.International RelationsApr 13 2009Maersk Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips rescued during operation in which U.S. Navy Seal snipers kill three Somali Pirates holding him for ransom aboard lifeboatSomali Civil WarApr 11 2009Deeper recession or depression averted in 2009 and beyond with the help of stimulus bill provisions2009 Stimulus BillApr 01 2009Approximately 2.7 million jobs added to US payrolls and unemployment rate kept 1½ percentage points lower due to Stimulus spending2009 Stimulus BillApr 01 20092010 real GDP increased by about 3.4% due to stimulus spending2009 Stimulus BillFeb 17 2009Tax credit of $400 per worker ($800 per couple) for middle income workers for 2009 & 2010 totaling $116 billion2009 Stimulus BillFeb 17 2009$82.2 billion in aid for low income workers, unemployed and retirees (including job training)2009 Stimulus BillFeb 17 2009$70 billion in tax relief for middle class workers by patching the Alternative Minimum Tax for one year2009 Stimulus BillFeb 17 2009$155 billion in health care assistance for the poor & unemployed primarily for Medicaid, health information technology and insurance premium subsidies2009 Stimulus BillFeb 17 2009$100 billion in education aid to prevent lay-offs, modernize schools, award Pell grants and help low income children & special education programs2009 Stimulus BillFeb 17 2009$48.1 billion in investments for highway, bridge, high-speed rail & other transportation projects2009 Stimulus BillFeb 17 20094 million more children insured under SCHIP in addition to the 6.6 million already coveredChildren's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)Feb 04 2009Statute of limitations on filing equal-pay lawsuits eased by setting period to start from the date of the most recent paycheck.Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay ActJan 29 2009Pay discrimination based on gender, race, color, national origin, age and disability prohibited.Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay ActJan 29 2009Employers prompted to review, develop and update their criteria on employee compensation to ensure they are applied consistently and uniformly.Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay ActJan 29 2009Use of torture by CIA and military to interrogate prisoners prohibited.

LibraryCIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90A Die-Hard IssueGerald K. HainesAn extraordinary 95 percent of all Americans have at least heard or read something about Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), and 57 percent believe they are real. (1) Former US Presidents Carter and Reagan claim to have seen a UFO. UFOlogists--a neologism for UFO buffs--and private UFO organizations are found throughout the United States. Many are convinced that the US Government, and particularly CIA, are engaged in a massive conspiracy and coverup of the issue. The idea that CIA has secretly concealed its research into UFOs has been a major theme of UFO buffs since the modern UFO phenomena emerged in the late 1940s. (2)In late 1993, after being pressured by UFOlogists for the release of additional CIA information on UFOs, (3) DCI R. James Woolsey ordered another review of all Agency files on UFOs. Using CIA records compiled from that review, this study traces CIA interest and involvement in the UFO controversy from the late 1940s to 1990. It chronologically examines the Agency's efforts to solve the mystery of UFOs, its programs that had an impact on UFO sightings, and its attempts to conceal CIA involvement in the entire UFO issue. What emerges from this examination is that, while Agency concern over UFOs was substantial until the early 1950s, CIA has since paid only limited and peripheral attention to the phenomena.BackgroundThe emergence in 1947 of the Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union also saw the first wave of UFO sightings. The first report of a "flying saucer" over the United States came on 24 June 1947, when Kenneth Arnold, a private pilot and reputable businessman, while looking for a downed plane sighted nine disk-shaped objects near Mt. Rainier, Washington, traveling at an estimated speed of over 1,000 mph. Arnold's report was followed by a flood of additional sightings, including reports from military and civilian pilots and air traffic controllers all over the United States. (4) In 1948, Air Force Gen. Nathan Twining, head of the Air Technical Service Command, established Project SIGN (initially named Project SAUCER) to collect, collate, evaluate, and distribute within the government all information relating to such sightings, on the premise that UFOs might be real and of national security concern. (5)The Technical Intelligence Division of the Air Material Command (AMC) at Wright Field (later Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) in Dayton, Ohio, assumed control of Project SIGN and began its work on 23 January 1948. Although at first fearful that the objects might be Soviet secret weapons, the Air Force soon concluded that UFOs were real but easily explained and not extraordinary. The Air Force report found that almost all sightings stemmed from one or more of three causes: mass hysteria and hallucination, hoax, or misinterpretation of known objects. Nevertheless, the report recommended continued military intelligence control over the investigation of all sightings and did not rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial phenomena. (6)Amid mounting UFO sightings, the Air Force continued to collect and evaluate UFO data in the late 1940s under a new project, GRUDGE, which tried to alleviate public anxiety over UFOs via a public relations campaign designed to persuade the public that UFOs constituted nothing unusual or extraordinary. UFO sightings were explained as balloons, conventional aircraft, planets, meteors, optical illusions, solar reflections, or even "large hailstones." GRUDGE officials found no evidence in UFO sightings of advanced foreign weapons design or development, and they concluded that UFOs did not threaten US security. They recommended that the project be reduced in scope because the very existence of Air Force official interest encouraged people to believe in UFOs and contributed to a "war hysteria" atmosphere. On 27 December 1949, the Air Force announced the project's termination. (7)With increased Cold War tensions, the Korean war, and continued UFO sightings, USAF Director of Intelligence Maj. Gen. Charles P. Cabell ordered a new UFO project in 1952. Project BLUE BOOK became the major Air Force effort to study the UFO phenomenon throughout the 1950s and 1960s. (8) The task of identifying and explaining UFOs continued to fall on the Air Material Command at Wright-Patterson. With a small staff, the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) tried to persuade the public that UFOs were not extraordinary. (9) Projects SIGN, GRUDGE, and BLUE BOOK set the tone for the official US Government position regarding UFOs for the next 30 years.[Top of page]Early CIA Concerns, 1947-52CIA closely monitored the Air Force effort, aware of the mounting number of sightings and increasingly concerned that UFOs might pose a potential security threat. (10) Given the distribution of the sightings, CIA officials in 1952 questioned whether they might reflect "midsummer madness.'' (11) Agency officials accepted the Air Force's conclusions about UFO reports, although they concluded that "since there is a remote possibility that they may be interplanetary aircraft, it is necessary to investigate each sighting." (12)A massive buildup of sightings over the United States in 1952, especially in July, alarmed the Truman administration. On 19 and 20 July, radar scopes at Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base tracked mysterious blips. On 27 July, the blips reappeared. The Air Force scrambled interceptor aircraft to investigate, but they found nothing. The incidents, however, caused headlines across the country. The White House wanted to know what was happening, and the Air Force quickly offered the explanation that the radar blips might be the result of "temperature inversions." Later, a Civil Aeronautics Administration investigation confirmed that such radar blips were quite common and were caused by temperature inversions. (13)Although it had monitored UFO reports for at least three years, CIA reacted to the new rash of sightings by forming a special study group within the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI) and the Office of Current Intelligence (OCI) to review the situation. (14) Edward Tauss, acting chief of OSI's Weapons and Equipment Division, reported for the group that most UFO sightings could be easily explained. Nevertheless, he recommended that the Agency continue monitoring the problem, in coordination with ATIC. He also urged that CIA conceal its interest from the media and the public, "in view of their probable alarmist tendencies" to accept such interest as confirming the existence of UFOs. (15)Upon receiving the report, Deputy Director for Intelligence (DDI) Robert Amory, Jr. assigned responsibility for the UFO investigations to OSI's Physics and Electronics Division, with A. Ray Gordon as the officer in charge. (16) Each branch in the division was to contribute to the investigation, and Gordon was to coordinate closely with ATIC. Amory, who asked the group to focus on the national security implications of UFOs, was relaying DCI Walter Bedell Smith's concerns. (17) Smith wanted to know whether or not the Air Force investigation of flying saucers was sufficiently objective and how much more money and manpower would be necessary to determine the cause of the small percentage of unexplained flying saucers. Smith believed "there was only one chance in 10,000 that the phenomenon posed a threat to the security of the country, but even that chance could not be taken." According to Smith, it was CIA's responsibility by statute to coordinate the intelligence effort required to solve the problem. Smith also wanted to know what use could be made of the UFO phenomenon in connection with US psychological warfare efforts. (18)Led by Gordon, the CIA Study Group met with Air Force officials at Wright-Patterson and reviewed their data and findings. The Air Force claimed that 90 percent of the reported sightings were easily accounted for. The other 10 percent were characterized as "a number of incredible reports from credible observers." The Air Force rejected the theories that the sightings involved US or Soviet secret weapons development or that they involved "men from Mars"; there was no evidence to support these concepts. The Air Force briefers sought to explain these UFO reports as the misinterpretation of known objects or little understood natural phenomena. (19) Air Force and CIA officials agreed that outside knowledge of Agency interest in UFOs would make the problem more serious. (20) This concealment of CIA interest contributed greatly to later charges of a CIA conspiracy and coverup.Amateur photographs of alleged UFOsPassoria, New Jersey, 31 July 1952Sheffield, England, 4 March 1962 & Minneapolis, Minnesota, 20 October 1960The CIA Study Group also searched the Soviet press for UFO reports, but found none, causing the group to conclude that the absence of reports had to have been the result of deliberate Soviet Government policy. The group also envisioned the USSR's possible use of UFOs as a psychological warfare tool. In addition, they worried that, if the US air warning system should be deliberately overloaded by UFO sightings, the Soviets might gain a surprise advantage in any nuclear attack. (21)Because of the tense Cold War situation and increased Soviet capabilities, the CIA Study Group saw serious national security concerns in the flying saucer situation. The group believed that the Soviets could use UFO reports to touch off mass hysteria and panic in the United States. The group also believed that the Soviets might use UFO sightings to overload the US air warning system so that it could not distinguish real targets from phantom UFOs. H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director of OSI, added that he considered the problem of such importance "that it should be brought to the attention of the National Security Council, in order that a communitywide coordinated effort towards it solution may be initiated." (22)Chadwell briefed DCI Smith on the subject of UFOs in December 1952. He urged action because he was convinced that "something was going on that must have immediate attention" and that "sightings of unexplained objects at great altitudes and traveling at high speeds in the vicinity of major US defense installations are of such nature that they are not attributable to natural phenomena or known types of aerial vehicles." He drafted a memorandum from the DCI to the National Security Council (NSC) and a proposed NSC Directive establishing the investigation of UFOs as a priority project throughout the intelligence and the defense research and development community. (23) Chadwell also urged Smith to establish an external research project of top-level scientists to study the problem of UFOs. (24) After this briefing, Smith directed DDI Amory to prepare a NSC Intelligence Directive (NSCID) for submission to the NSC on the need to continue the investigation of UFOs and to coordinate such investigations with the Air Force.(25)[Top of page]The Robertson Panel, 1952-53On 4 December 1952, the Intelligence Advisory Committee (IAC) took up the issue of UFOs. (26) Amory, as acting chairman, presented DCI Smith's request to the committee that it informally discuss the subject of UFOs. Chadwell then briefly reviewed the situation and the active program of the ATIC relating to UFOs. The committee agreed that the DCI should "enlist the services of selected scientists to review and appraise the available evidence in the light of pertinent scientific theories" and draft an NSCID on the subject. (27) Maj. Gen. John A. Samford, Director of Air Force Intelligence, offered full cooperation. (28)At the same time, Chadwell looked into British efforts in this area. He learned the British also were active in studying the UFO phenomena. An eminent British scientist, R. V. Jones, headed a standing committee created in June 1951 on flying saucers. Jones' and his committee's conclusions on UFOs were similar to those of Agency officials: the sightings were not enemy aircraft but misrepresentations of natural phenomena. The British noted, however, that during a recent air show RAF pilots and senior military officials had observed a "perfect flying saucer." Given the press response, according to the officer, Jones was having a most difficult time trying to correct public opinion regarding UFOs. The public was convinced they were real. (29)In January 1953, Chadwell and H. P. Robertson, a noted physicist from the California Institute of Technology, put together a distinguished panel of nonmilitary scientists to study the UFO issue. It included Robertson as chairman; Samuel A. Goudsmit, a nuclear physicist from the Brookhaven National Laboratories; Luis Alvarez, a high-energy physicist; Thornton Page, the deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Operations Research Office and an expert on radar and electronics; and Lloyd Berkner, a director of the Brookhaven National Laboratories and a specialist in geophysics. (30)The charge to the panel was to review the available evidence on UFOs and to consider the possible dangers of the phenomena to US national security. The panel met from 14 to 17 January 1953. It reviewed Air Force data on UFO case histories and, after spending 12 hours studying the phenomena, declared that reasonable explanations could be suggested for most, if not all, sightings. For example, after reviewing motion-picture film taken of a UFO sighting near Tremonton, Utah, on 2 July 1952 and one near Great Falls, Montana, on 15 August 1950, the panel concluded that the images on the Tremonton film were caused by sunlight reflecting off seagulls and that the images at Great Falls were sunlight reflecting off the surface of two Air Force interceptors. (31)The panel concluded unanimously that there was no evidence of a direct threat to national security in the UFO sightings. Nor could the panel find any evidence that the objects sighted might be extraterrestrials. It did find that continued emphasis on UFO reporting might threaten "the orderly functioning" of the government by clogging the channels of communication with irrelevant reports and by inducing "hysterical mass behavior" harmful to constituted authority. The panel also worried that potential enemies contemplating an attack on the United States might exploit the UFO phenomena and use them to disrupt US air defenses. (32)To meet these problems, the panel recommended that the National Security Council debunk UFO reports and institute a policy of public education to reassure the public of the lack of evidence behind UFOs. It suggested using the mass media, advertising, business clubs, schools, and even the Disney corporation to get the message across. Reporting at the height of McCarthyism, the panel also recommended that such private UFO groups as the Civilian Flying Saucer Investigators in Los Angeles and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization in Wisconsin be monitored for subversive activities. (33)The Robertson panel's conclusions were strikingly similar to those of the earlier Air Force project reports on SIGN and GRUDGE and to those of the CIA's own OSI Study Group. All investigative groups found that UFO reports indicated no direct threat to national security and no evidence of visits by extraterrestrials.Following the Robertson panel findings, the Agency abandoned efforts to draft an NSCID on UFOs. (34) The Scientific Advisory Panel on UFOs (the Robertson panel) submitted its report to the IAC, the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the Federal Civil Defense Administration, and the Chairman of the National Security Resources Board. CIA officials said no further consideration of the subject appeared warranted, although they continued to monitor sightings in the interest of national security. Philip Strong and Fred Durant from OSI also briefed the Office of National Estimates on the findings. (35) CIA officials wanted knowledge of any Agency interest in the subject of flying saucers carefully restricted, noting not only that the Robertson panel report was classified but also that any mention of CIA sponsorship of the panel was forbidden. This attitude would later cause the Agency major problems relating to its credibility. (36)[Top of page]The 1950s: Fading CIA Interest in UFOsAfter the report of the Robertson panel, Agency officials put the entire issue of UFOs on the back burner. In May 1953, Chadwell transferred chief responsibility for keeping abreast of UFOs to OSI's Physics and Electronic Division, while the Applied Science Division continued to provide any necessary support. (37) Todos M. Odarenko, chief of the Physics and Electronics Division, did not want to take on the problem, contending that it would require too much of his division's analytic and clerical time. Given the findings of the Robertson panel, he proposed to consider the project "inactive" and to devote only one analyst part-time and a file clerk to maintain a reference file of the activities of the Air Force and other agencies on UFOs. Neither the Navy nor the Army showed much interest in UFOs, according to Odarenko.(38)A nonbeliever in UFOs, Odarenko sought to have his division relieved of the responsibility for monitoring UFO reports. In 1955, for example, he recommended that the entire project be terminated because no new information concerning UFOs had surfaced. Besides, he argued, his division was facing a serious budget reduction and could not spare the resources. (39) Chadwell and other Agency officials, however, continued to worry about UFOs. Of special concern were overseas reports of UFO sightings and claims that German engineers held by the Soviets were developing a "flying saucer" as a future weapon of war. (40)To most US political and military leaders, the Soviet Union by the mid-1950s had become a dangerous opponent. Soviet progress in nuclear weapons and guided missiles was particularly alarming. In the summer of 1949, the USSR had detonated an atomic bomb. In August 1953, only nine months after the United States tested a hydrogen bomb, the Soviets detonated one. In the spring of 1953, a top secret RAND Corporation study also pointed out the vulnerability of SAC bases to a surprise attack by Soviet long-range bombers. Concern over the danger of a Soviet attack on the United States continued to grow, and UFO sightings added to the uneasiness of US policymakers.Mounting reports of UFOs over eastern Europe and Afghanistan also prompted concern that the Soviets were making rapid progress in this area. CIA officials knew that the British and Canadians were already experimenting with "flying saucers." Project Y was a Canadian-British-US developmental operation to produce a nonconventional flying-saucer-type aircraft, and Agency officials feared the Soviets were testing similar devices.(41)Adding to the concern was a flying saucer sighting by US Senator Richard Russell and his party while traveling on a train in the USSR in October 1955. After extensive interviews of Russell and his group, however, CIA officials concluded that Russell's sighting did not support the theory that the Soviets had developed saucerlike or unconventional aircraft. Herbert Scoville, Jr., the Assistant Director of OSI, wrote that the objects observed probably were normal jet aircraft in a steep climb. (42)Wilton E. Lexow, head of the CIA's Applied Sciences Division, was also skeptical. He questioned why the Soviets were continuing to develop conventional-type aircraft if they had a "flying saucer." (43) Scoville asked Lexow to assume responsibility for fully assessing the capabilities and limitations of nonconventional aircraft and to maintain the OSI central file on the subject of UFOs.[Top of page]CIA's U-2 and OXCART as UFOsIn November 1954, CIA had entered into the world of high technology with its U-2 overhead reconnaissance project. Working with Lockheed's Advanced Development facility in Burbank, California, known as the Skunk Works, and Kelly Johnson, an eminent aeronautical engineer, the Agency by August 1955 was testing a high-altitude experimental aircraft--the U-2. It could fly at 60,000 feet; in the mid-1950s, most commercial airliners flew between 10,000 feet and 20,000 feet. Consequently, once the U-2 started test flights, commercial pilots and air traffic controllers began reporting a large increase in UFO sightings. (44) (U)The early U-2s were silver (they were later painted black) and reflected the rays from the sun, especially at sunrise and sunset. They often appeared as fiery objects to observers below. Air Force BLUE BOOK investigators aware of the secret U-2 flights tried to explain away such sightings by linking them to natural phenomena such as ice crystals and temperature inversions. By checking with the Agency's U-2 Project Staff in Washington, BLUE BOOK investigators were able to attribute many UFO sightings to U-2 flights. They were careful, however, not to reveal the true cause of the sighting to the public.According to later estimates from CIA officials who worked on the U-2 project and the OXCART (SR-71, or Blackbird) project, over half of all UFO reports from the late 1950s through the 1960s were accounted for by manned reconnaissance flights (namely the U-2) over the United States. (45) This led the Air Force to make misleading and deceptive statements to the public in order to allay public fears and to protect an extraordinarily sensitive national security project. While perhaps justified, this deception added fuel to the later conspiracy theories and the coverup controversy of the 1970s. The percentage of what the Air Force considered unexplained UFO sightings fell to 5.9 percent in 1955 and to 4 percent in 1956. (46)At the same time, pressure was building for the release of the Robertson panel report on UFOs. In 1956, Edward Ruppelt, former head of the Air Force BLUE BOOK project, publicly revealed the existence of the panel. A best-selling book by UFOlogist Donald Keyhoe, a retired Marine Corps major, advocated release of all government information relating to UFOs. Civilian UFO groups such as the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) immediately pushed for release of the Robertson panel report. (47) Under pressure, the Air Force approached CIA for permission to declassify and release the report. Despite such pressure, Philip Strong, Deputy Assistant Director of OSI, refused to declassify the report and declined to disclose CIA sponsorship of the panel. As an alternative, the Agency prepared a sanitized version of the report which deleted any reference to CIA and avoided mention of any psychological warfare potential in the UFO controversy. (48)The demands, however, for more government information about UFOs did not let up. On 8 March 1958, Keyhoe, in an interview with Mike Wallace of CBS, claimed deep CIA involvement with UFOs and Agency sponsorship of the Robertson panel. This prompted a series of letters to the Agency from Keyhoe and Dr. Leon Davidson, a chemical engineer and UFOlogist. They demanded the release of the full Robertson panel report and confirmation of CIA involvement in the UFO issue. Davidson had convinced himself that the Agency, not the Air Force, carried most of the responsibility for UFO analysis and that "the activities of the US Government are responsible for the flying saucer sightings of the last decade." Indeed, because of the undisclosed U-2 and OXCART flights, Davidson was closer to the truth than he suspected. CI, nevertheless held firm to its policy of not revealing its role in UFO investigations and refused to declassify the full Robertson panel report. (49)In a meeting with Air Force representatives to discuss how to handle future inquires such as Keyhoe's and Davidson's, Agency officials confirmed their opposition to the declassification of the full report and worried that Keyhoe had the ear of former DCI VAdm. Roscoe Hillenkoetter, who served on the board of governors of NICAP. They debated whether to have CIA General Counsel Lawrence R. Houston show Hillenkoetter the report as a possible way to defuse the situation. CIA officer Frank Chapin also hinted that Davidson might have ulterior motives, "some of them perhaps not in the best interest of this country," and suggested bringing in the FBI to investigate. (50) Although the record is unclear whether the FBI ever instituted an investigation of Davidson or Keyhoe, or whether Houston ever saw Hillenkoetter about the Robertson report, Hillenkoetter did resign from the NICAP in 1962. (51)The Agency was also involved with Davidson and Keyhoe in two rather famous UFO cases in the 1950s, which helped contribute to a growing sense of public distrust of CIA with regard to UFOs. One focused on what was reported to have been a tape recording of a radio signal from a flying saucer; the other on reported photographs of a flying saucer. The "radio code" incident began innocently enough in 1955, when two elderly sisters in Chicago, Mildred and Marie Maier, reported in the Journal of Space Flight their experiences with UFOs, including the recording of a radio program in which an unidentified code was reportedly heard. The sisters taped the program and other ham radio operators also claimed to have heard the "space message." OSI became interested and asked the Scientific Contact Branch to obtain a copy of the recording. (52)Field officers from the Contact Division (CD), one of whom was Dewelt Walker, made contact with the Maier sisters, who were "thrilled that the government was interested," and set up a time to meet with them. (53) In trying to secure the tape recording, the Agency officers reported that they had stumbled upon a scene from Arsenic and Old Lace. "The only thing lacking was the elderberry wine," Walker cabled Headquarters. After reviewing the sisters' scrapbook of clippings from their days on the stage, the officers secured a copy of the recording. (54) OSI analyzed the tape and found it was nothing more than Morse code from a US radio station.The matter rested there until UFOlogist Leon Davidson talked with the Maier sisters in 1957. The sisters remembered they had talked with a Mr. Walker who said he was from the US Air Force. Davidson then wrote to a Mr. Walker, believing him to be a US Air Force Intelligence Officer from Wright-Patterson, to ask if the tape had been analyzed at ATIC. Dewelt Walker replied to Davidson that the tape had been forwarded to proper authorities for evaluation, and no information was available concerning the results. Not satisfied, and suspecting that Walker was really a CIA officer, Davidson next wrote DCI Allen Dulles demanding to learn what the coded message revealed and who Mr. Walker was. (55) The Agency, wanting to keep Walker's identity as a CIA employee secret, replied that another agency of the government had analyzed the tape in question and that Davidson would be hearing from the Air Force. (56) On 5 August, the Air Force wrote Davidson saying that Walker "was and is an Air Force Officer" and that the tape "was analyzed by another government organization." The Air Force letter confirmed that the recording contained only identifiable Morse code which came from a known US-licensed radio station. (57)Davidson wrote Dulles again. This time he wanted to know the identity of the Morse operator and of the agency that had conducted the analysis. CIA and the Air Force were now in a quandary. The Agency had previously denied that it had actually analyzed the tape. The Air Force had also denied analyzing the tape and claimed that Walker was an Air Force officer. CIA officers, under cover, contacted Davidson in Chicago and promised to get the code translation and the identification of the transmitter, if possible. (58)In another attempt to pacify Davidson, a CIA officer, again under cover and wearing his Air Force uniform, contacted Davidson in New York City. The CIA officer explained that there was no super agency involved and that Air Force policy was not to disclose who was doing what. While seeming to accept this argument, Davidson nevertheless pressed for disclosure of the recording message and the source. The officer agreed to see what he could do. (59) After checking with Headquarters, the CIA officer phoned Davidson to report that a thorough check had been made and, because the signal was of known US origin, the tape and the notes made at the time had been destroyed to conserve file space. (60)Incensed over what he perceived was a runaround, Davidson told the CIA officer that "he and his agency, whichever it was, were acting like Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamster Union in destroying records which might indict them." (61) Believing that any more contact with Davidson would only encourage more speculation, the Contact Division washed its hands of the issue by reporting to the DCI and to ATIC that it would not respond to or try to contact Davidson again. (62) Thus, a minor, rather bizarre incident, handled poorly by both CIA and the Air Force, turned into a major flap that added fuel to the growing mystery surrounding UFOs and CIA's role in their investigation.Another minor flap a few months later added to the growing questions surrounding the Agency's true role with regard to flying saucers. CIA's concern over secrecy again made matters worse. In 1958, Major Keyhoe charged that the Agency was deliberately asking eyewitnesses of UFOs not to make their sightings public.(63)The incident stemmed from a November 1957 request from OSI to the CD to obtain from Ralph C. Mayher, a photographer for KYW-TV in Cleveland, Ohio, certain photographs he took in 1952 of an unidentified flying object. Harry Real, a CD officer, contacted Mayher and obtained copies of the photographs for analysis. On 12 December 1957, John Hazen, another CD officer, returned the five photographs of the alleged UFO to Mayher without comment. Mayher asked Hazen for the Agency's evaluation of the photos, explaining that he was trying to organize a TV program to brief the public on UFOs. He wanted to mention on the show that a US intelligence organization had viewed the photographs and thought them of interest. Although he advised Mayher not to take this approach, Hazen stated that Mayher was a US citizen and would have to make his own decision as to what to do. (64)Keyhoe later contacted Mayher, who told him his story of CIA and the photographs. Keyhoe then asked the Agency to confirm Hazen's employment in writing, in an effort to expose CIA's role in UFO investigations. The Agency refused, despite the fact that CD field representatives were normally overt and carried credentials identifying their Agency association. DCI Dulles's aide, John S. Earman, merely sent Keyhoe a noncommittal letter noting that, because UFOs were of primary concern to the Department of the Air Force, the Agency had referred his letter to the Air Force for an appropriate response. Like the response to Davidson, the Agency reply to Keyhoe only fueled the speculation that the Agency was deeply involved in UFO sightings. Pressure for release of CIA information on UFOs continued to grow. (65)Although CIA had a declining interest in UFO cases, it continued to monitor UFO sightings. Agency officials felt the need to keep informed on UFOs if only to alert the DCI to the more sensational UFO reports and flaps. (66)[Top of page]The 1960s: Declining CIA Involvement and Mounting ControversyIn the early 1960s, Keyhoe, Davidson, and other UFOlogists maintained their assault on the Agency for release of UFO information. Davidson now claimed that CIA "was solely responsible for creating the Flying Saucer furor as a tool for cold war psychological warfare since 1951." Despite calls for Congressional hearings and the release of all materials relating to UFOs, little changed. (67)In 1964, however, following high-level White House discussions on what to do if an alien intelligence was discovered in space and a new outbreak of UFO reports and sightings, DCI John McCone asked for an updated CIA evaluation of UFOs. Responding to McCone's request, OSI asked the CD to obtain various recent samples and reports of UFO sightings from NICAP. With Keyhoe, one of the founders, no longer active in the organization, CIA officers met with Richard H. Hall, the acting director. Hall gave the officers samples from the NICAP database on the most recent sightings. (68)After OSI officers had reviewed the material, Donald F. Chamberlain, OSI Assistant Director, assured McCone that little had changed since the early 1950s. There was still no evidence that UFOs were a threat to the security of the United States or that they were of "foreign origin." Chamberlain told McCone that OSI still monitored UFO reports, including the official Air Force investigation, Project BLUE BOOK. (69)At the same time that CIA was conducting this latest internal review of UFOs, public pressure forced the Air Force to establish a special ad hoc committee to review BLUE BOOK. Chaired by Dr. Brian O'Brien, a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the panel included Carl Sagan, the famous astronomer from Cornell University. Its report offered nothing new. It declared that UFOs did not threaten the national security and that it could find "no UFO case which represented technological or scientific advances outside of a terrestrial framework." The committee did recommend that UFOs be studied intensively, with a leading university acting as a coordinator for the project, to settle the issue conclusively. (70)The House Armed Services Committee also held brief hearings on UFOs in 1966 that produced similar results. Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown assured the committee that most sightings were easily explained and that there was no evidence that "strangers from outer space" had been visiting Earth. He told the committee members, however, that the Air Force would keep an open mind and continue to investigate all UFO reports. (71)Following the report of its O'Brien Committee, the House hearings on UFOs, and Dr. Robertson's disclosure on a CBS Reports program that CIA indeed had been involved in UFO analysis, the Air Force in July 1966 again approached the Agency for declassification of the entire Robertson panel report of 1953 and the full Durant report on the Robertson panel deliberations and findings. The Agency again refused to budge. Karl H. Weber, Deputy Director of OSI, wrote the Air Force that "We are most anxious that further publicity not be given to the information that the panel was sponsored by the CIA." Weber noted that there was already a sanitized version available to the public. (72) Weber's response was rather shortsighted and ill considered. It only drew more attention to the 13-year-old Robertson panel report and CIA's role in the investigation of UFOs. The science editor of The Saturday Review drew nationwide attention to the CIA's role in investigating UFOs when he published an article criticizing the "sanitized version" of the 1953 Robertson panel report and called for release of the entire document. (73)Unknown to CIA officials, Dr. James E. McDonald, a noted atmospheric physicist from the University of Arizona, had already seen the Durant report on the Robertson panel proceedings at Wright-Patterson on 6 June 1966. When McDonald returned to Wright-Patterson on 30 June to copy the report, however, the Air Force refused to let him see it again, stating that it was a CIA classified document. Emerging as a UFO authority, McDonald publicly claimed that the CIA was behind the Air Force secrecy policies and coverup. He demanded the release of the full Robertson panel report and the Durant report. (74)Bowing to public pressure and the recommendation of its own O'Brien Committee, the Air Force announced in August 1966 that it was seeking a contract with a leading university to undertake a program of intensive investigations of UFO sightings. The new program was designed to blunt continuing charges that the US Government had concealed what it knew about UFOs. On 7 October, the University of Colorado accepted a $325,000 contract with the Air Force for an 18-month study of flying saucers. Dr. Edward U. Condon, a physicist at Colorado and a former Director of the National Bureau of Standards, agreed to head the program. Pronouncing himself an "agnostic" on the subject of UFOs, Condon observed that he had an open mind on the question and thought that possible extraterritorial origins were "improbable but not impossible." (75) Brig. Gen. Edward Giller, USAF, and Dr. Thomas Ratchford from the Air Force Research and Development Office became the Air Force coordinators for the project.In February 1967, Giller contacted Arthur C. Lundahl, Director of CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC), and proposed an informal liaison through which NPIC could provide the Condon Committee with technical advice and services in examining photographs of alleged UFOs. Lundahl and DDI R. Jack Smith approved the arrangement as a way of "preserving a window" on the new effort. They wanted the CIA and NPIC to maintain a low profile, however, and to take no part in writing any conclusions for the committee. No work done for the committee by NPIC was to be formally acknowledged. (76)Ratchford next requested that Condon and his committee be allowed to visit NPIC to discuss the technical aspects of the problem and to view the special equipment NPIC had for photoanalysis. On 20 February 1967, Condon and four members of his committee visited NPIC. Lundahl emphasized to the group that any NPIC work to assist the committee must not be identified as CIA work. Moreover, work performed by NPIC would be strictly of a technical nature. After receiving these guidelines, the group heard a series of briefings on the services and equipment not available elsewhere that CIA had used in its analysis of some UFO photography furnished by Ratchford. Condon and his committee were impressed. (77)Condon and the same group met again in May 1967 at NPIC to hear an analysis of UFO photographs taken at Zanesville, Ohio. The analysis debunked that sighting. The committee was again impressed with the technical work performed, and Condon remarked that for the first time a scientific analysis of a UFO would stand up to investigation. (78) The group also discussed the committee's plans to call on US citizens for additional photographs and to issue guidelines for taking useful UFO photographs. In addition, CIA officials agreed that the Condon Committee could release the full Durant report with only minor deletions.In April 1969, Condon and his committee released their report on UFOs. The report concluded that little, if anything, had come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years and that further extensive study of UFO sightings was unwarranted. It also recommended that the Air Force special unit, Project BLUE BOOK, be discontinued. It did not mention CIA participation in the Condon committee's investigation. (79) A special panel established by the National Academy of Sciences reviewed the Condon report and concurred with its conclusion that "no high priority in UFO investigations is warranted by data of the past two decades." It concluded its review by declaring, "On the basis of present knowledge, the least likely explanation of UFOs is the hypothesis of extraterrestrial visitations by intelligent beings." Following the recommendations of the Condon Committee and the National Academy of Sciences, the Secretary of the Air Force, Robert C. Seamans, Jr., announced on 17 December 1969 the termination of BLUE BOOK. (80)[Top of page]The 1970s and 1980s: The UFO Issue Refuses To DieThe Condon report did not satisfy many UFOlogists, who considered it a coverup for CIA activities in UFO research. Additional sightings in the early 1970s fueled beliefs that the CIA was somehow involved in a vast conspiracy. On 7 June 1975, William Spaulding, head of a small UFO group, Ground Saucer Watch (GSW), wrote to CIA requesting a copy of the Robertson panel report and all records relating to UFOs. (81) Spaulding was convinced that the Agency was withholding major files on UFOs. Agency officials provided Spaulding with a copy of the Robertson panel report and of the Durant report. (82)On 14 July 1975, Spaulding again wrote the Agency questioning the authenticity of the reports he had received and alleging a CIA coverup of its UFO activities. Gene Wilson, CIA's Information and Privacy Coordinator, replied in an attempt to satisfy Spaulding, "At no time prior to the formation of the Robertson Panel and subsequent to the issuance of the panel's report has CIA engaged in the study of the UFO phenomena." The Robertson panel report, according to Wilson, was "the summation of Agency interest and involvement in UFOs." Wilson also inferred that there were no additional documents in CIA's possession that related to UFOs. Wilson was ill informed. (83)In September 1977, Spaulding and GSW, unconvinced by Wilson's response, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Agency that specifically requested all UFO documents in CIA's possession. Deluged by similar FOIA requests for Agency information on UFOs, CIA officials agreed, after much legal maneuvering, to conduct a "reasonable search" of CIA files for UFO materials. (84) Despite an Agency-wide unsympathetic attitude toward the suit, Agency officials, led by Launie Ziebell from the Office of General Counsel, conducted a thorough search for records pertaining to UFOs. Persistent, demanding, and even threatening at times, Ziebell and his group scoured the Agency. They even turned up an old UFO file under a secretary's desk. The search finally produced 355 documents totaling approximately 900 pages. On 14 December 1978, the Agency released all but 57 documents of about 100 pages to GSW. It withheld these 57 documents on national security grounds and to protect sources and methods. (85)Although the released documents produced no smoking gun and revealed only a low-level Agency interest in the UFO phenomena after the Robertson panel report of 1953, the press treated the release in a sensational manner. The New York Times, for example, claimed that the declassified documents confirmed intensive government concern over UFOs and that the Agency was secretly involved in the surveillance of UFOs. (86) GSW then sued for the release of the withheld documents, claiming that the Agency was still holding out key information. (87) It was much like the John F. Kennedy assassination issue. No matter how much material the Agency released and no matter how dull and prosaic the information, people continued to believe in a Agency coverup and conspiracy.DCI Stansfield Turner was so upset when he read The New York Times article that he asked his senior officers, "Are we in UFOs?" After reviewing the records, Don Wortman, Deputy Director for Administration, reported to Turner that there was "no organized Agency effort to do research in connection with UFO phenomena nor has there been an organized effort to collect intelligence on UFOs since the 1950s." Wortman assured Turner that the Agency records held only "sporadic instances of correspondence dealing with the subject," including various kinds of reports of UFO sightings. There was no Agency program to collect actively information on UFOs, and the material released to GSW had few deletions. (88) Thus assured, Turner had the General Counsel press for a summary judgment against the new lawsuit by GSW. In May 1980, the courts dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the Agency had conducted a thorough and adequate search in good faith. (89)During the late 1970s and 1980s, the Agency continued its low-key interest in UFOs and UFO sightings. While most scientists now dismissed flying saucers reports as a quaint part of the 1950s and 1960s, some in the Agency and in the Intelligence Community shifted their interest to studying parapsychology and psychic phenomena associated with UFO sightings. CIA officials also looked at the UFO problem to determine what UFO sightings might tell them about Soviet progress in rockets and missiles and reviewed its counterintelligence aspects. Agency analysts from the Life Science Division of OSI and OSWR officially devoted a small amount of their time to issues relating to UFOs. These included counterintelligence concerns that the Soviets and the KGB were using US citizens and UFO groups to obtain information on sensitive US weapons development programs (such as the Stealth aircraft), the vulnerability of the US air-defense network to penetration by foreign missiles mimicking UFOs, and evidence of Soviet advanced technology associated with UFO sightings.CIA also maintained Intelligence Community coordination with other agencies regarding their work in parapsychology, psychic phenomena, and "remote viewing" experiments. In general, the Agency took a conservative scientific view of these unconventional scientific issues. There was no formal or official UFO project within the Agency in the 1980s, and Agency officials purposely kept files on UFOs to a minimum to avoid creating records that might mislead the public if released. (90)The 1980s also produced renewed charges that the Agency was still withholding documents relating to the 1947 Roswell incident, in which a flying saucer supposedly crashed in New Mexico, and the surfacing of documents which purportedly revealed the existence of a top secret US research and development intelligence operation responsible only to the President on UFOs in the late 1940s and early 1950s. UFOlogists had long argued that, following a flying saucer crash in New Mexico in 1947, the government not only recovered debris from the crashed saucer but also four or five alien bodies. According to some UFOlogists, the government clamped tight security around the project and has refused to divulge its investigation results and research ever since. (91) In September 1994, the US Air Force released a new report on the Roswell incident that concluded that the debris found in New Mexico in 1947 probably came from a once top secret balloon operation, Project MOGUL, designed to monitor the atmosphere for evidence of Soviet nuclear tests. (92)Circa 1984, a series of documents surfaced which some UFOlogists said proved that President Truman created a top secret committee in 1947, Majestic-12, to secure the recovery of UFO wreckage from Roswell and any other UFO crash sight for scientific study and to examine any alien bodies recovered from such sites. Most if not all of these documents have proved to be fabrications. Yet the controversy persists. (93)Like the JFK assassination conspiracy theories, the UFO issue probably will not go away soon, no matter what the Agency does or says. The belief that we are not alone in the universe is too emotionally appealing and the distrust of our government is too pervasive to make the issue amenable to traditional scientific studies of rational explanation and evidence.[Top of page]Notes(1) See the 1973 Gallup Poll results printed in The New York Times, 29 November 1973, p. 45 and Philip J. Klass, UFOs: The Public Deceived (New York: Prometheus Books, 1983), p. 3.(2) See Klass, UFOs, p. 3; James S. Gordon, "The UFO Experience," Atlantic Monthly (August 1991), pp. 82-92; David Michael Jacobs, The UFO Controversy in America (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975); Howard Blum, Out There: The Government's Secret Quest for Extraterrestrials (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990); Timothy Good, Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover-Up (New York: William Morrow, 1987); and Whitley Strieber, Communion: The True Story (New York: Morrow, 1987).(3) In September 1993 John Peterson, an acquaintance of Woolsey's, first approached the DCI with a package of heavily sanitized CIA material on UFOs released to UFOlogist Stanton T. Friedman. Peterson and Friedman wanted to know the reasons for the redactions. Woolsey agreed to look into the matter. See Richard J. Warshaw, Executive Assistant, note to author, 1 November 1994; Warshaw, note to John H. Wright, Information and Privacy Coordinator, 31 January 1994; and Wright, memorandum to Executive Secretariat, 2 March 1994. (Except where noted, all citations to CIA records in this article are to the records collected for the 1994 Agency-wide search that are held by the Executive Assistant to the DCI).(4) See Hector Quintanilla, Jr., "The Investigation of UFOs," Vol. 10, No. 4, Studies in Intelligence (fall 1966): pp.95-110 and CIA, unsigned memorandum, "Flying Saucers," 14 August 1952. See also Good, Above Top Secret, p. 253. During World War II, US pilots reported "foo fighters" (bright lights trailing US aircraft). Fearing they might be Japanese or German secret weapons, OSS investigated but could find no concrete evidence of enemy weapons and often filed such reports in the "crackpot" category. The OSS also investigated possible sightings of German V-1 and V-2 rockets before their operational use during the war. See Jacobs, UFO Controversy, p. 33. The Central Intelligence Group, the predecessor of the CIA, also monitored reports of "ghost rockets" in Sweden in 1946. See CIG, Intelligence Report, 9 April 1947.(5) Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 156 and Quintanilla, "The Investigation of UFOs," p. 97.(6) See US Air Force, Air Material Command, "Unidentified Aerial Objects: Project SIGN, no. F-TR 2274, IA, February 1949, Records of the US Air Force Commands, Activities and Organizations, Record Group 341, National Archives, Washington, DC.(7) See US Air Force, Projects GRUDGE and BLUEBOOK Reports 1- 12 (Washington, DC; National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, 1968) and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, pp. 50-54.(8) See Cabell, memorandum to Commanding Generals Major Air Commands, "Reporting of Information on Unconventional Aircraft," 8 September 1950 and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy,p. 65.(9) See Air Force, Projects GRUDGE and BLUE BOOK and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 67.(10) See Edward Tauss, memorandum for Deputy Assistant Director, SI, "Flying Saucers," 1 August 1952. See also United Kingdom, Report by the "Flying Saucer" Working Party, "Unidentified Flying Objects," no date (approximately 1950).(11) See Dr. Stone, OSI, memorandum to Dr. Willard Machle, OSI, 15 March 1949 and Ralph L. Clark, Acting Assistant Director, OSI, memorandum for DDI, "Recent Sightings of Unexplained Objects," 29 July 1952.(12) Stone, memorandum to Machle. See also Clark, memorandum for DDI, 29 July 1952.(13) See Klass, UFOs, p. 15. For a brief review of the Washington sightings see Good, Above Top Secret, pp. 269-271.(14) See Ralph L. Clark, Acting Assistant Director, OSI, memorandum to DDI Robert Amory, Jr., 29 July 1952. OSI and OCI were in the Directorate of Intelligence. Established in 1948, OSI served as the CIA's focal point for the analysis of foreign scientific and technological developments. In 1980, OSI was merged into the Office of Science and Weapons Research. The Office of Current Intelligence (OCI), established on 15 January 1951 was to provide all-source current intelligence to the President and the National Security Council.(15) Tauss, memorandum for Deputy Assistant Director, SI (Philip Strong), 1 August 1952.(16) On 2 January 1952, DCI Walter Bedell Smith created a Deputy Directorate for Intelligence (DDI) composed of six overt CIA organizations--OSI, OCI, Office of Collection and Dissemination, Office National Estimates, Office of Research and Reports, and the Office of Intelligence Coordination--to produce intelligence analysis for US policymakers.(17) See Minutes of Branch Chief's Meeting, 11 August 1952.(18) Smith expressed his opinions at a meeting in the DCI Conference Room attended by his top officers. See Deputy Chief, Requirements Staff, FI, memorandum for Deputy Director, Plans, "Flying Saucers," 20 August 1952, Directorate of Operations Records, Information Management Staff, Job 86-00538R, Box 1.(19) See CIA memorandum, unsigned, "Flying Saucers," 11 August 1952.(20) See CIA, memorandum, unsigned, "Flying Saucers," 14 August 1952.(21) See CIA, memorandum, unsigned, "Flying Saucers," 19 August 1952.(22) See Chadwell, memorandum for Smith, 17 September 1952 and 24 September 1952, "Flying Saucers." See also Chadwell, memorandum for DCI Smith, 2 October 1952 and Klass, UFOs,pp. 23-26.(23) Chadwell, memorandum for DCI with attachments, 2 December 1952. See also Klass, UFOs, pp. 26-27 and Chadwell, memorandum, 25 November 1952.(24) See Chadwell, memorandum, 25 November 1952 and Chadwell, memorandum, "Approval in Principle - External Research Project Concerned with Unidentified Flying Objects," no date. See also Philip G. Strong, OSI, memorandum for the record, "Meeting with Dr. Julius A. Stratton, Executive Vice President and Provost, MIT and Dr. Max Millikan, Director of CENIS." Strong believed that in order to undertake such a review they would need the full backing and support of DCI Smith.(25) See Chadwell, memorandum for DCI, ""Unidentified Flying Objects," 2 December 1952. See also Chadwell, memorandum for Amory, DDI, "Approval in Principle - External Research Project Concerned with Unidentified Flying Objects," no date.(26) The IAC was created in 1947 to serve as a coordinating body in establishing intelligence requirements. Chaired by the DCI, the IAC included representatives from the Department of State, the Army, the Air Force, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the FBI, and the AEC.(27) See Klass, UFOs, p. 27.(28) See Richard D. Drain, Acting Secretary, IAC, "Minutes of Meeting held in Director's Conference Room, Administration Building, CIA," 4 December 1952.(29) See Chadwell, memorandum for the record, "British Activity in the Field of UFOs," 18 December 1952.(30) See Chadwell, memorandum for DCI, "Consultants for Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects," 9 January 1953; Curtis Peebles, Watch the Skies! A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994). pp. 73-90; and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, pp. 91-92.(31) See Fred C. Durant III, Report on the Robertson Panel Meeting, January 1953. Durant, on contract with OSI and a past president of the American Rocket Society, attended the Robertson panel meetings and wrote a summary of the proceedings.(32) See Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects (the Robertson Report), 17 January 1953 and the Durant report on the panel discussions.(33) See Robertson Report and Durant Report. See also Good, Above Top Secret, pp. 337-38, Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 95, and Klass, UFO's, pp. 28-29.(34) See Reber, memorandum to IAC, 18 February 1953.(35) See Chadwell, memorandum for DDI, "Unidentified Flying Objects," 10 February 1953; Chadwell, letter to Robertson, 28 January 1953; and Reber, memorandum for IAC, "Unidentified Flying Objects," 18 February 1953. On briefing the ONE, see Durant, memorandum for the record, "Briefing of ONE Board on Unidentified Flying Objects," 30 January 1953 and CIA Summary disseminated to the field, "Unidentified Flying Objects," 6 February 1953.(36) See Chadwell, letter to Julius A. Stratton, Provost MIT, 27 January 1953.(37) See Chadwell, memorandum for Chief, Physics and Electronics Division/OSI (Todos M. Odarenko), "Unidentified Flying Objects," 27 May 1953.(38) See Odarenko, memorandum to Chadwell, "Unidentified Flying Objects," 3 July 1953. See also Odarenko, memorandum to Chadwell, "Current Status of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOB) Project," 17 December 1953.(39) See Odarenko, memorandum, "Unidentified Flying Objects," 8 August 1955.(40) See FBIS, report, "Military Unconventional Aircraft," 18 August 1953 and various reports, "Military-Air, Unconventional Aircraft," 1953, 1954, 1955.(41) Developed by the Canadian affiliate of Britain's A. V. Roe, Ltd., Project Y did produce a small-scale model that hovered a few feet off the ground. See Odarenko, memorandum to Chadwell, "Flying Saucer Type of Planes" 25 May 1954; Frederic C. E. Oder, memorandum to Odarenko, "USAF Project Y," 21 May 1954; and Odarenko, T. M. Nordbeck, Ops/SI, and Sidney Graybeal, ASD/SI, memorandum for the record, "Intelligence Responsibilities for Non-Conventional Types of Air Vehicles," 14 June 1954.(42) See Reuben Efron, memorandum, "Observation of Flying Object Near Baku," 13 October 1955; Scoville, memorandum for the record, "Interview with Senator Richard B. Russell," 27 October 1955; and Wilton E. Lexow, memorandum for information, "Reported Sighting of Unconventional Aircraft," 19 October 1955.(43) See Lexow, memorandum for information, "Reported Sighting of Unconventional Aircraft," 19 October 1955. See also Frank C. Bolser, memorandum for George C. Miller, Deputy Chief, SAD/SI, "Possible Soviet Flying Saucers, Check On;" Lexow, memorandum, "Possible Soviet Flying Saucers, Follow Up On," 17 December 1954; Lexow, memorandum, "Possible Soviet Flying Saucers," 1 December 1954; and A. H. Sullivan, Jr., memorandum, "Possible Soviet Flying Saucers," 24 November 1954.(44) See Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach, The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974 (Washington, DC: CIA History Staff, 1992), pp. 72-73.(45) See Pedlow and Welzenbach, Overhead Reconnaissance,pp. 72-73. This also was confirmed in a telephone interview between the author and John Parongosky, 26 July 1994. Parongosky oversaw the day-to-day affairs of the OXCART program.(46) See Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 135.(47) See Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 128-146; Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects (New York: Doubleday, 1956); Keyhoe, The Flying Saucer Conspiracy (New York: Holt, 1955); and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, pp. 347-49.(48) See Strong, letter to Lloyd W. Berkner; Strong, letter to Thorton Page; Strong, letter to Robertson; Strong, letter to Samuel Goudsmit; Strong, letter to Luis Alvarez, 20 December 1957; and Strong, memorandum for Major James F. Byrne, Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence Department of the Air Force, "Declassification of the `Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects,'" 20 December 1957. See also Berkner, letter to Strong, 20 November 1957 and Page, letter to Strong, 4 December 1957. The panel members were also reluctant to have their association with the Agency released.(49) See Wilton E. Lexow, memorandum for the record, "Comments on Letters Dealing with Unidentified Flying Objects," 4 April 1958; J. S. Earman, letter to Major Lawrence J. Tacker, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Information Service, 4 April 1958; Davidson, letter to Berkner, 8 April 1958; Berkner, letter to Davidson, 18 April 1958; Berkner, letter to Strong, 21 April 1958; Davidson, letter to Tacker, 27 April 1958; Davidson, letter to Allen Dulles, 27 April 1958; Ruppelt, letter to Davidson, 7 May 1958; Strong, letter to Berkner, 8 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Berkner, 8 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Earman, 16 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Goudsmit, 18 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Page, 18 May 1958; and Tacker, letter to Davidson, 20 May 1958.(50) See Lexow, memorandum for Chapin, 28 July 1958.(51) See Good, Above Top Secret, pp. 346-47; Lexow, memorandum for the record, "Meeting with the Air Force Personnel Concerning Scientific Advisory Panel Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, dated 17 January 1953 (S)," 16 May 1958. See also La Rae L. Teel, Deputy Division Chief, ASD, memorandum for the record, "Meeting with Mr. Chapin on Replying to Leon Davidson's UFO Letter and Subsequent Telephone Conversation with Major Thacker, [sic]" 22 May 1958.(52) See Edwin M. Ashcraft, Chief, Contact Division (Scientific), memorandum to Chief, Chicago Office, "Radio Code Recording," 4 March 1955 and Ashcraft, memorandum to Chief, Support Branch, OSI, 17 March 1955.(53) The Contact Division was created to collect foreign intelligence information from sources within the United States. See the Directorate of Intelligence Historical Series, The Origin and Development of Contact Division, 11 July 1946­1 July 1965 (Washington, DC; CIA Historical Staff, June 1969).(54) See George O. Forrest, Chief, Chicago Office, memorandum to Chief, Contact Division for Science, 11 March 1955.(55) See Support Division (Connell), memorandum to Dewelt E. Walker, 25 April 1957.(56) See J. Arnold Shaw, Assistant to the Director, letter to Davidson, 10 May 1957.(57) See Support (Connell) memorandum to Lt. Col. V. Skakich, 27 August 1957 and Lamountain, memorandum to Support (Connell), 20 December 1957.(58) See Lamountain, cable to Support (Connell), 31 July 1958.(59) See Support (Connell) cable to Skakich, 3 October 1957 and Skakich, cable to Connell, 9 October 1957.(60) See Skakich, cable to Connell, 9 October 1957.(61) See R. P. B. Lohmann, memorandum for Chief, Contact Division, DO, 9 January 1958.(62) See Support, cable to Skakich, 20 February 1958 and Connell (Support) cable to Lamountain, 19 December 1957.(63) See Edwin M. Ashcraft, Chief, Contact Division, Office of Operations, memorandum for Austin Bricker, Jr., Assistant to the Director, "Inquiry by Major Donald E. Keyhoe on John Hazen's Association with the Agency," 22 January 1959.(64) See John T. Hazen, memorandum to Chief, Contact Division, 12 December 1957. See also Ashcraft, memorandum to Cleveland Resident Agent, "Ralph E. Mayher," 20 December 1957. According to this memorandum, the photographs were viewed at "a high level and returned to us without comment." The Air Force held the original negatives. The CIA records were probably destroyed.(65) The issue would resurface in the 1970s with the GSW FOIA court case.(66) See Robert Amory, Jr., DDI, memorandum for Assistant Director/Scientific Intelligence, "Flying Saucers," 26 March 1956. See also Wallace R. Lamphire, Office of the Director, Planning and Coordination Staff, memorandum for Richard M. Bissell, Jr., "Unidentified Flying Saucers (UFO)," 11 June 1957; Philip Strong, memorandum for the Director, NPIC, "Reported Photography of Unidentified Flying Objects," 27 October 1958; Scoville, memorandum to Lawrence Houston, Legislative Counsel, "Reply to Honorable Joseph E. Garth," 12 July 1961; and Houston, letter to Garth, 13 July 1961.(67) See, for example, Davidson, letter to Congressman Joseph Garth, 26 June 1961 and Carl Vinson, Chairman, House Committee on Armed Services, letter to Rep. Robert A. Everett, 2 September 1964.(68) See Maxwell W. Hunter, staff member, National Aeronautics and Space Council, Executive Office of the President, memorandum for Robert F. Parkard, Office of International Scientific Affairs, Department of State, "Thoughts on the Space Alien Race Question," 18 July 1963, File SP 16, Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59, National Archives. See also F. J. Sheridan, Chief, Washington Office, memorandum to Chief, Contact Division, "National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP)," 25 January 1965.(69) Chamberlain, memorandum for DCI, "Evaluation of UFOs," 26 January 1965.(70) See Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 199 and US Air Force, Scientific Advisory Board, Ad Hoc Committee (O'Brien Committee) to Review Project BLUE BOOK, Special Report(Washington, DC: 1966). See also The New York Times, 14 August 1966, p. 70.(71) See "Congress Reassured on Space Visits," The New York Times, 6 April 1966.(72) Weber, letter to Col. Gerald E. Jorgensen, Chief, Community Relations Division, Office of Information, US Air Force, 15 August 1966. The Durant report was a detailed summary of the Robertson panel proceedings.(73) See John Lear, "The Disputed CIA Document on UFOs," Saturday Review (September 3, 1966), p. 45. The Lear article was otherwise unsympathetic to UFO sightings and the possibility that extraterritorials were involved. The Air Force had been eager to provide Lear with the full report. See Walter L. Mackey, Executive Officer, memorandum for DCI, "Air Force Request to Declassify CIA Material on Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO)," 1 September 1966.(74) See Klass, UFOs, p. 40, Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 214 and Everet Clark, "Physicist Scores `Saucer Status,'" The New York Times, 21 October 1966. See also James E. McDonald, "Statement on Unidentified Flying Objects," submitted to the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, 29 July 1968.(75) Condon is quoted in Walter Sullivan, "3 Aides Selected in Saucer Inquiry," The New York Times, 8 October 1966. See also "An Outspoken Scientist, Edward Uhler Condon," The New York Times, 8 October 1966. Condon, an outgoing, gruff scientist, had earlier become embroiled in a controversy with the House Unamerican Activities Committee that claimed Condon was "one of the weakest links in our atomic security." See also Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 169-195.(76) See Lundahl, memorandum for DDI, 7 February 1967.(77) See memorandum for the record, "Visit of Dr. Condon to NPIC, 20 February 1967," 23 February 1967. See also the analysis of the photographs in memorandum for Lundahl, "Photo Analysis of UFO Photography," 17 February 1967.(78) See memorandum for the record, "UFO Briefing for Dr. Edward Condon, 5 May 1967," 8 May 1967 and attached "Guidelines to UFO Photographers and UFO Photographic Information Sheet." See also Condon Committee, Press Release, 1 May 1967 and Klass, UFOs, p. 41. The Zaneville photographs turned out to be a hoax.(79) See Edward U. Condon, Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (New York: Bantam Books, 1969) and Klass, UFOs, p. 41. The report contained the Durant report with only minor deletions.(80) See Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense, News Release, "Air Force to Terminate Project BLUEBOOK," 17 December 1969. The Air Force retired BLUEBOOK records to the USAF Archives at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. In 1976 the Air Force turned over all BLUEBOOK files to the National Archives and Records Administration, which made them available to the public without major restrictions. Some names have been withheld from the documents. See Klass, UFOs, p. 6.(81) GSW was a small group of UFO buffs based in Phoenix, Arizona, and headed by William H. Spaulding.(82) See Klass, UFOs, p. 8.(83) See Wilson, letter to Spaulding, 26 March 1976 and GSW v. CIA Civil Action Case 78-859.(84) GSW v. CIA Civil Action Case 78-859, p. 2.(85) Author interview with Launie Ziebell, 23 June 1994 and author interview with OSI analyst, 21 July 1994. See also affidavits of George Owens, CIA Information and Privacy Act Coordinator; Karl H. Weber, OSI; Sidney D. Stembridge, Office of Security; and Rutledge P. Hazzard, DS&T; GSW v. CIA Civil Action Case 78-859 and Sayre Stevens, Deputy Director for National Foreign Assessment, memorandum for Thomas H. White, Assistant for Information, Information Review Committee, "FOIA Litigation Ground Saucer Watch," no date.(86) See "CIA Papers Detail UFO Surveillance," The New York Times, 13 January 1979; Patrick Huyghe, "UFO Files: The Untold Story," The New York Times Magazine, 14 October 1979, p. 106; and Jerome Clark, "UFO Update," UFO Report, August 1979.(87) Jerome Clark, "Latest UFO News Briefs From Around the World," UFO Update, August 1979 and GSW v. CIA Civil Action No. 78-859.(88) See Wortman, memorandum for DCI Turner, "Your Question, `Are we in UFOs?' Annotated to The New York Times News Release Article," 18 January 1979.(89) See GSW v. CIA Civil Action 78-859. See also Klass, UFOs,pp. 10-12.(90) See John Brennan, memorandum for Richard Warshaw, Executive Assistant, DCI, "Requested Information on UFOs," 30 September 1993; Author interviews with OSWR analyst, 14 June 1994 and OSI analyst, 21 July 1994. This author found almost no documentation on Agency involvement with UFOs in the 1980s.There is a DIA Psychic Center and the NSA studies parapsychology, that branch of psychology that deals with the investigation of such psychic phenomena as clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, and telepathy. The CIA reportedly is also a member of an Incident Response Team to investigate UFO landings, if one should occur. This team has never met. The lack of solid CIA documentation on Agency UFO-related activities in the 1980s leaves the entire issue somewhat murky for this period.Much of the UFO literature presently focuses on contactees and abductees. See John E. Mack, Abduction, Human Encounters with Aliens (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994) and Howard Blum, Out There (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990).(91) See Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore, The Roswell Incident (New York: Berkeley Books, 1988); Moore, "The Roswell Incident: New Evidence in the Search for a Crashed UFO," (Burbank, California: Fair Witness Project, 1982), Publication Number 1201; and Klass, UFOs, pp. 280-281. In 1994 Congressman Steven H. Schiff (R-NM) called for an official study of the Roswell incident. The GAO is conducting a separate investigation of the incident. The CIA is not involved in the investigation. See Klass, UFOs, pp. 279-281; John H. Wright, Information and Privacy Coordinator, letter to Derek Skreen, 20 September 1993; and OSWR analyst interview. See also the made-for-TV film, Roswell, which appeared on cable TV on 31 July 1994 and Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 245-251.(92) See John Diamond, "Air Force Probes 1947 UFO Claim Findings Are Down to Earth," 9 September 1994, Associated Press release; William J. Broad, "Wreckage of a `Spaceship': Of This Earth (and U.S.)," The New York Times, 18 September 1994, p. 1; and USAF Col. Richard L. Weaver and 1st Lt. James McAndrew, The Roswell Report, Fact Versus Fiction in New Mexico Desert (Washington, DC: GPO, 1995).(93) See Good, Above Top Secret; Moore and S. T. Friedman, "Philip Klass and MJ-12: What are the Facts," (Burbank California: Fair-Witness Project, 1988), Publication Number 1290; Klass, "New Evidence of MJ-12 Hoax," Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 14 (Winter 1990); and Moore and Jaime H. Shandera, The MJ-12 Documents: An Analytical Report (Burbank, California: Fair-Witness Project, 1990), Publication Number 1500. Walter Bedell Smith supposedly replaced Forrestal on 1 August 1950 following Forrestal's death. All members listed were deceased when the MJ-12 "documents" surfaced in 1984. See Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 258-268.Dr. Larry Bland, editor of The George C. Marshall Papers,discovered that one of the so-called Majestic-12 documents was a complete fraud. It contained the exact same language as a letter from Marshall to Presidential candidate Thomas Dewey regarding the "Magic" intercepts in 1944. The dates and names had been altered and "Magic" changed to "Majic." Moreover, it was a photocopy, not an original. No original MJ-12 documents have ever surfaced. Telephone conversation between the author and Bland, 29 August 1994.Gerald K. Haines is the National Reconnaissance Office historian.