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35 cant were given expensive on-the-spot investigations. It was a highly unsatisfying exercise. While the Condon report was widely accepted as the final word on UFOs, not everyone agreed. The prestigious American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, professional society of the aerospace industry, stated: "The opposite conclusion could have been drawn from its content, namely that a phe- nomenon with such a high rate of unexplained cases (about 30%) should arouse sufficient scientific curiosity to continue its study." But the Condon report did its job, which was to give the Air Force an excuse to retire from the increasingly embarrassing UFO-investigating business. On December 17, 1969, Project Blue Book was shut down after almost twenty-two years of collecting reports and combating charges. The final tally showed 12,783 reports received and 585 declared "Unknown." At least several hundred of the so-called explained reports were anything but explained in scientific terms. But once Proj- ect Blue Book was disbanded, its files were removed from Wright-Patterson, first to the Air Force Archives at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, and then to the National Archives in Washing- ton, D.C., where all names of witnesses were removed. The open, public involvement of the U.S. Air Force, and indeed the U.S. government, with UFOs was at an end. The incessant claims by the Air Force that it was no longer concermed with UFOs after 1969 are hollow. A careful reading of the memo that recommended the closing of the project, as well as a staff summary which accompanied it, reveals the true state of affairs. Brig. Gen. Carroll H. Bolender, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development, stated on October 20, 1969, that the Air Force investigation (not specifically limited to Project Blue Book) had two objectives: "to determine whether UFOs pose any threat to the security of the United States; and to determine whether UFOs exhibit any unique scientific information or advanced technology which could contribute to scientific or technical research." He then said that "the continuation of Project Blue Book THE GOVERNMENT AND UFOS