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96 For the next 17 years, the group of Air Force officers collected more than 12,618 reports of UFO sightings. The great majority of these sightings were believed to be the result of natural phenomena. Despite this, 701 of the cases remained unexplained and unidentified. The official conclusion of the study was that “No UFO reported, in- vestigated, and evaluated by the Air Force has ever given any indica- tion of threat to our National Security.” Researchers, however, have pointed out that UFO reports that affect national security actually bypassed Blue Book. According to official government documents, “ . reports of unidentified flying objects that could affect national security are made in accordance with JANAP 146 or Air Force Manual 15-11, and are not a part of the Blue Book system.” It turns out that JANAP 146 is a military regulation that forbids the public disclosure of UFO information. Imposed on both military and commercial pilots, disobeying this order can lead to a maximum of 10 years in jail and a fine of $10,000. Today, investigators believe that Project Blue Book was a public- ity stunt, and was used by the Air Force to wash their hands of the UFO problem. Even Ruppelt complained, saying, “Everything was being evaluated on the premise that UFOs couldn’t exist.” J. Allen Hynek was Project Blue Book’s astronomical consultant. He wrote, “All my association with Blue Book showed clearly that the project rarely exhibited any interest in the UFO problem.” Blue Book was shut down in 1969, and since then, the Air Force claims to have no Another well-known government study of UFOs was known as the Condon Committee, headed by Edward Condon and Robert Low. The study began after the famous Hillsdale, Michigan, sightings that the Air Force explained away as swamp gas. When the public refused to accept this explanation, the Air Force responded with the Condon UFOS AND ALIENS interest in UFOs.** THE CONDON COMMITTEE