Flying Saucer Working Party
Encyclopedia
Flying Saucer Working Party (or FSWP) was the name of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence
’s (MOD) first "official study into UFOs" which has its roots in a study commissioned in 1950 by the MOD’s then Chief Scientific Adviser, the great radar scientist Sir Henry Tizard
. As a result of his insistence that UFO sightings should not be dismissed without some form of proper scientific study, the Department set up what writer Nick Pope
has described as "arguably the most marvellously-named committee in the history of the civil service"
The Flying Saucer Working Party was set up in October 1950 by Ministry of Defence Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Henry Tizard, who felt that UFO reports should not be dismissed out of hand without some serious study. He duly authorised the setting up of a small study team to look into the phenomenon. This is the group's final report , which was released to UFO researchers Dr David Clarke and Andy Roberts in 2001 by the MOD, following requests made under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. A detailed commentary and analysis of this material can be found at the Real UFO Project website including scans of the report and associated documents.
Tizard was intrigued by the increasing media coverage of UFO sightings in the UK, America and other parts of the world. Using his authority as Chief Scientific Adviser at the MOD he decided that the subject should not be dismissed without some proper, official investigation. Accordingly, he agreed that a small Directorate of Scientific Intelligence/Joint Technical Intelligence Committee (DSI/JTIC) working party should be set up to investigate the phenomenon. This was dubbed the Flying Saucer Working Party. The DSI/JTIC minutes recording this historic development read as follows:
“The Chairman said that Sir Henry Tizard felt that reports of flying saucers ought not to be dismissed without some investigation and he had, therefore, agreed that a small DSI/JTIC Working Party should be set up under the chairmanship of Mr Turney to investigate future reports.
After discussion it was agreed that the membership of the Working Party should comprise representatives of DSI1, ADNI(Tech), MI10 and ADI(Tech). It was also agreed that it would probably be necessary at some time to consult the Meteorological Department and ORS Fighter Command but that these two bodies should not at present be asked to nominate representatives”.
It operated under such secrecy that its existence was known to very few. Nevertheless, there were two clues that such a study had been carried out. One of these clues was obvious, but the other was more obscure.
The first clue was in the Secretary of State for Air’s response to Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s famous 28 July 1952 memo in which he enquired “What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to? What can it mean? What is the truth? Let me have a report at your convenience”. The response, dated 9 August 1952, began “The various reports about unidentified flying objects, described by the Press as “flying saucers”, were the subject of a full Intelligence study in 1951”.
There was some considerable discussion and debate about the terms of reference of the Flying Saucer Working Party. The final version read as follows:
The five man working party was chaired by a naval intelligence officer, Mr G. L. Turney, from one of the MOD’s scientific intelligence branches. All the members were specialists in the field of scientific and technical intelligence. One member, Wing Commander Myles Formby, Assistant Director of Intelligence (Technical) at the Air Ministry, also chaired the Guided Missiles Working Party.
The working party’s conclusions were set out in a document dated June 1951 and bearing the designation DSI/JTIC Report No. 7. It was entitled “Unidentified Flying Objects” and classified “Secret Discreet”.
Dr David Clarke of Sheffield Hallam University
was the first person to obtain a copy of the report in 2001 under the Code of Practice on Access to government information. The discovery was made public in The Observer
The document was subsequently made available at The National Archives
on 1 January 2002. A full discussion of the Working Party's findings and interviews with some of the key players, can be found in Chapter 5 of Clarke and Robert's book 'Out of the Shadows: UFOs, the Establishment and the Official Cover-up' (London: Piatkus, 2002). Some of the key PRO file references containing the Report and related DSI/JTIC discussions are DEFE 44/119, DEFE 41/74 and DEFE 41/75.
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
’s (MOD) first "official study into UFOs" which has its roots in a study commissioned in 1950 by the MOD’s then Chief Scientific Adviser, the great radar scientist Sir Henry Tizard
Henry Tizard
Sir Henry Thomas Tizard FRS was an English chemist and inventor and past Rector of Imperial College....
. As a result of his insistence that UFO sightings should not be dismissed without some form of proper scientific study, the Department set up what writer Nick Pope
Nick Pope
Nick Pope worked for 21 years at the British Government's Ministry of Defence from 1985 to 2006. He is best-known for a job that he did from 1991 to 1994, where his duties included investigating reports of UFO sightings, to see if they had any defence significance...
has described as "arguably the most marvellously-named committee in the history of the civil service"
The Flying Saucer Working Party was set up in October 1950 by Ministry of Defence Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Henry Tizard, who felt that UFO reports should not be dismissed out of hand without some serious study. He duly authorised the setting up of a small study team to look into the phenomenon. This is the group's final report , which was released to UFO researchers Dr David Clarke and Andy Roberts in 2001 by the MOD, following requests made under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. A detailed commentary and analysis of this material can be found at the Real UFO Project website including scans of the report and associated documents.
Tizard was intrigued by the increasing media coverage of UFO sightings in the UK, America and other parts of the world. Using his authority as Chief Scientific Adviser at the MOD he decided that the subject should not be dismissed without some proper, official investigation. Accordingly, he agreed that a small Directorate of Scientific Intelligence/Joint Technical Intelligence Committee (DSI/JTIC) working party should be set up to investigate the phenomenon. This was dubbed the Flying Saucer Working Party. The DSI/JTIC minutes recording this historic development read as follows:
“The Chairman said that Sir Henry Tizard felt that reports of flying saucers ought not to be dismissed without some investigation and he had, therefore, agreed that a small DSI/JTIC Working Party should be set up under the chairmanship of Mr Turney to investigate future reports.
After discussion it was agreed that the membership of the Working Party should comprise representatives of DSI1, ADNI(Tech), MI10 and ADI(Tech). It was also agreed that it would probably be necessary at some time to consult the Meteorological Department and ORS Fighter Command but that these two bodies should not at present be asked to nominate representatives”.
It operated under such secrecy that its existence was known to very few. Nevertheless, there were two clues that such a study had been carried out. One of these clues was obvious, but the other was more obscure.
The first clue was in the Secretary of State for Air’s response to Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s famous 28 July 1952 memo in which he enquired “What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to? What can it mean? What is the truth? Let me have a report at your convenience”. The response, dated 9 August 1952, began “The various reports about unidentified flying objects, described by the Press as “flying saucers”, were the subject of a full Intelligence study in 1951”.
There was some considerable discussion and debate about the terms of reference of the Flying Saucer Working Party. The final version read as follows:
- To review the available evidence in reports of “Flying Saucers”.
- To examine from now on the evidence on which reports of British origin of phenomena attributed to “Flying Saucers” are based.
- To report to DSI/JTIC as necessary.
- To keep in touch with American occurrences and evaluation of such.
The five man working party was chaired by a naval intelligence officer, Mr G. L. Turney, from one of the MOD’s scientific intelligence branches. All the members were specialists in the field of scientific and technical intelligence. One member, Wing Commander Myles Formby, Assistant Director of Intelligence (Technical) at the Air Ministry, also chaired the Guided Missiles Working Party.
The working party’s conclusions were set out in a document dated June 1951 and bearing the designation DSI/JTIC Report No. 7. It was entitled “Unidentified Flying Objects” and classified “Secret Discreet”.
Dr David Clarke of Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University is a higher education institution in South Yorkshire, England, based on two sites in Sheffield. City Campus is located in the city centre, close to Sheffield railway station, and Collegiate Crescent Campus is about two miles away, adjacent to Ecclesall Road in...
was the first person to obtain a copy of the report in 2001 under the Code of Practice on Access to government information. The discovery was made public in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
The document was subsequently made available at The National Archives
The National Archives (UK)
The National Archives is a UK government department and an executive agency of the Secretary of State for Justice. It is "the UK government's official archive, containing 1,000 years of history"...
on 1 January 2002. A full discussion of the Working Party's findings and interviews with some of the key players, can be found in Chapter 5 of Clarke and Robert's book 'Out of the Shadows: UFOs, the Establishment and the Official Cover-up' (London: Piatkus, 2002). Some of the key PRO file references containing the Report and related DSI/JTIC discussions are DEFE 44/119, DEFE 41/74 and DEFE 41/75.