Some events in UFO history are remembered not as they occurred, but only as the legends they became. Once upon a time, the pioneering crusader against the UFO cover-up made a humiliating mistake while trying to defy the Air Force on national TV. Instead of being disgraced, he ended up a UFO saint. Before we get to his legendary disclosure, some context and introductions are required.
1947 was when things started, but due to the sensational article in True magazine, Jan. 1950, many in the public came to believe that “The Flying Saucers are Real” – and of extraterrestrial origin.
Retired Marine Major Donald E. Keyhoe was the author, and he later expanded it into his first of many UFO books. His pulpy writing style employed some dramatic license while presenting scenes of reconstructed conversations with experts and anonymous sources during his quest. Keyhoe’s article launched the UFO entertainment franchise, and it fueled much speculation and debate.
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| Amarillo Daily News, April 7, 1950 |
To examine the controversy, “The Case of the Flying Saucer” was broadcast on CBS radio on April 7, 1950, a half-hour non-fiction show narrated by newsman Edward R. Murrow. The show was written by Irve Tunick, who’d spent months researching it. The intro stated, “We are going to bring you the facts at hand. What they add up to, well that's for you to decide.” It featured descriptions of UFO sightings and statements from several viewpoints. Witness Kenneth Arnold told his story and said he felt the saucers were of “extraterrestrial origin.” Other speakers included skeptic Dr. Howard Menzel, and General William F. McKee of the Air Force. It came off as an open-minded, rational and balanced discussion of the topic.
The Robertson Panel
The next few years were full of consequential events, notably the rash of reports and media coverage in 1952. The incidents around Washington, DC, were so alarming that it prompted an Air Force press conference to reassure the public.
In Jan. 1953, concerned that the UFO problem could affect National Security, the Central Intelligence Agency secretly assembled a group of scientists led by H.P. Robertson to evaluate the evidence and make recommendations. Critics charge the evidence presented by the Air Force was insufficient, and so was the time given to evaluate it. The Robertson Panel report concluded that UFOs posed no physical threat, but that false reports and “skillful hostile propaganda could induce hysterical behavior and harmful distrust of duly constituted authority.” They recommended a plan to strip the “aura of mystery” from the UFO topic: “The ‘debunking’ would result in reduction in public interest in ‘flying saucers’… This education could be accomplished by mass media such television, motion pictures, and popular articles.” The Air Force embraced the Panel’s report, and reduced the scope of Project Blue Book’s operations, essentially ending any scientific investigations to focus on debunking UFOs. Not much was done on the education recommendation beyond occasionally releasing a UFO “Fact Sheet” to the press.
A few months after the Robertson Panel, Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, head of Project Blue Book left the Air Force to work as a research engineer at Northrop Aircraft. In 1956 his book, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects was a bestseller. Among the many points of interest, he described a 1948 "Estimate of the Situation" that suggested an extraterrestrial origin for UFOs the Brass had rejected. He also described the 1953 Scientific Panel, but there was no mention of the CIA’s sponsorship, and he mischaracterized their findings as being supportive of expanding UFO investigations. Ruppelt also served as a technical advisor on the docudrama, Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers.
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| Capt. Gregory, Maj. Tacker |
In the eyes of the Air Force, all of this brought too much favorable attention to the topic of UFOs. Captain George T. Gregory became the director of Project Blue Book in April 1956, and he took it “in an even firmer anti-UFO direction.” A vigorous ally in Gregory’s debunking mission was Major Lawrence J. Tacker of the Office of Information Services of the Secretary of the Air Force (SAFIS) who served as official the spokesman on the UFO topic. Gregory thought the movie’s publicity was going to perpetuate further interest in UFOs and work against his goal. The next year, opportunity knocked. A writer invited the Air Force to present their position on UFOs on a network television show.
A Television Special on the UFO Debate
In late 1957, a surge of flying saucers sightings put the subject back in the national news, and even politicians were taking notice. Donald Keyhoe had become the director of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), and was quietly working with Senator John McClellan’s Senate Subcommittee on Investigations in hopes of holding Congressional hearings on UFOs.
Irve Tunick had moved from radio to television, and was writing for the CBS series, Armstrong Circle Theatre, an anthology produced by Talent Associates. The series specialized in dramatizations of real-life events, and was narrated by news anchor Douglas Edwards. Tunick set out to do an episode that would be an updated television version of his 1950 radio special on flying saucers. It would be a departure from the show’s dramatic format, but production-wise, most things would stay the same. All the dialogue would be scripted, and there’d be two days of rehearsal before the show was broadcast live. As with all entertainment programming, it would have to be cleared by the CBS Continuity Acceptance Department (censors), to ensure the material met with network standards (upholding morality, citizenship, not offending the sponsors etc.).
Tunick approached the Air Force in early December, and Captain Gregory agreed, possibly seeing this as a debunking opportunity as recommended by the Robertson Panel. With the help of Major Lawrence Tacker, Gregory acted as their technical advisor, “responsible for recommending the cases to be used.” He rushed to provide unprecedented access to Project Blue Book files, photographs, studies, reports, and original case folders.
Overlapping his study of the Air Force material, Tunick dug into UFO books and began rounding up top quality guest speakers. One of the first recruits was Donald Keyhoe, who worked closely with Tunick and offered suggestions for the show. For his segment, Keyhoe wanted to cite the “Estimate of the Situation” and the 1953 Scientific Panel report (from Ruppelt’s book), as examples of suppressed pro-saucer government documents.
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| Irve Tunick’s first draft, to be produced by Robert Costello, and directed by William Corrigan, Marilyn Evans, associate director. |
Tunick completed the first draft of Acts 1 and 2 of the three-act show on Dec. 31, 1957. The script touched on a number of controversies, including government secrecy, but never used the term “cover-up.” Act 1 was “pro-saucer,” and began with Douglas Edwards providing an overview of the topic, then introducing Kenneth Arnold. Then, a description of the 1948 crash of Capt. Thomas Mantell, followed by witness Clarence S. Chiles recounting the Chiles-Whitted “spaceship” case.
Act 2 was based on Air Force files and chiefly devoted to an interview with “Captain Jones” (a placeholder name) presenting the “anti-saucer” side of the story.
Act 3 was unfinished, just a 1-page outline describing the qualifications and positions of the intended speakers. It’d begin with a showing of two UFO films, then a few minutes each from several speakers: Donald Keyhoe presenting “Evidence for UFO,” skeptic Dr. Howard Menzel with the “scientists point-of-view,” an “impartial evaluation” from ex-Blue Book head Edward Ruppelt. For the show’s final guest, Tunick wanted the Secretary of the Air Force, Donald A. Quarles, who would “release for the first time the findings of a panel of distinguished scientists on UFO.” Edwards’ closing summary would leave it for the viewers to weigh the evidence for themselves.
The guests were confirmed and Tunick had what they’d say, then he edited the script for time and content and submitted it for clearance by the Continuity Acceptance Department. Once approved, the text would go on a paper roll teleprompter mounted to the camera for the guests to read. The show demanded a lot from the guests, who were required to travel to the New York studio to rehearse the script for two days, then perform it on camera for the live television broadcast. Draft two of the script was completed one week before the broadcast, on Jan. 15, 1958.
The Production and its Problems
Days away from showtime, there were cancellations and substitutions. The Air Force sent Lt. Col. Spencer H. Whedon to represent them in Act 2. He was the head of the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) Information Services Office, described as a robust dark-haired, middle-aged officer with a big mustache and a booming voice. For the close of Act 3, Richard E. Horner, USAF Assistant Secretary for Research and Development, would speak in that role. Edward Ruppelt (according to Tunick) “had expressed eagerness to be on,” but dropped out, saying he was unable to get away from work for all the time the show required. Next, witness Captain C.S. Chiles backed out, reportedly under pressure from his airline employer. Tunick adjusted the script to fill the holes they left, and Chiles’ segment was hastily rewritten to be presented by host Edwards, while Ruppelt’s short segment was eliminated, with most of his time shifted to Keyhoe.
Kenneth Arnold made the trip and rehearsed on Monday and Tuesday, but he disliked working from a script and being followed by the Air Force’s debunking segment. Wednesday afternoon, hours before the broadcast, Arnold quit by sending a telegram stating he would not appear on any show that “obviously misrepresents or distorts facts,” and withdrew the use of his photographs. That left the show in a jam, and without any direct UFO witness testimony.
Meanwhile, though Keyhoe’s segment was slightly expanded, his information exceeded what the spot would allow. Cuts were made due to time limitations, according to Tunick, but also probably for the flow of the show. Possibly, the “secret documents” section was removed since it clashed with Air Force spokesman Horner’s closing remarks. Keyhoe would later say he thought the Air Force was behind the cuts, and they gutted his presentation.
Showtime
Wednesday, Jan. 22, 1958, 10 P.M. Eastern:
Armstrong Circle Theatre, “U.F.O: Enigma of the Skies”
Act 1
The show began: “Good evening everybody, coast to coast. This is Douglas Edwards. Tonight, Armstrong Circle Theatre goes after a most unusual story: the riddle of the flying saucers.” He eased into the subject, saying that within our vast universe, there must be life somewhere on other planets. The plausible presentation contained one clunker: “In 1953, a report was made that a gigantic bridge now stretches across a region of the moon…” which some claim was built by “beings from outer space …for their observation of Earth.” (That misinformation about the illusion of “O’Neill’s Bridge” came from Keyhoe’s 1955 book, The Flying Saucer Conspiracy.) Edwards, narration discussed accounts of aerial phenomena from Biblical times and throughout history. As he spoke, and throughout the program, illustrations were shown on the screen, some from Air Force files. When it came to the modern era, Kenneth Arnold’s section remained, but he was just referred to as “a veteran mountain pilot,” in the material about his case read by Irve Tunick. The Chiles-Whitted case of the rocket-shaped UFO was presented by Edwards, who wrapped it up by saying, “People may argue about what they saw, but they can't deny that they saw something.” Donald Keyhoe would later describe Act 1 as a “fair picture” of the topic.
Act 2
After a short opening presenting several UFO sighting illustrations, Edwards began a segue, “Authorities have been accused of dropping a paper curtain on this problem, issuing statements hiding the true facts from the public. What are the facts?” The role of Project Blue Book was defined, then Lt. Col. Spencer Whedon of ATIC joined for the longest segment to present the Air Force’s position.
Whedon said that most UFO sightings were misidentifications and ultimately explained. Shifting the discussion to phonies and fakers, Edwards asked about the 1955 Kelly–Hopkinsville “goblin” encounter reported by Sutton family in Kentucky. Whedon’s script chalked it up to them being religiously “emotional,” but an edit between drafts may have been dictated by the Continuity Acceptance Department.
Edwards: I suppose this whole UFO situation is complicated by the crackpots, publicity seekers and hoaxers, is it not?
Whedon: Oh it definitely is, Mr. Edwards. One of the roughest areas involves the so-called ‘contact sightings,’ people who claim to have spoken to creatures from flying saucers, some who claim to have ridden in them…”
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| A photo of a counterfeit flying saucer like this was shown. |
An alleged crashed UFO was shown as an example. About nine inches in diameter, it was a copper ball with old radio parts inside, “supposedly found by a science teacher,” that had “Russian words on the inside,” and to make it look like it had come from space, “a blowtorch was used to scorch the sides.”
We don’t know who came up with that story, but it was a composite based on three separate hoaxes in Project Blue Book files. The object itself was a Sputnik hoax from Nov. 17, 1957, Tiffin, Ohio.
The “Russian words” aspect came from the Oct. 1957 Van Nuys, California, hoax missile that didn’t make the cut. Its case file contains a Dec. 17, 1957, AF memo stating that the hoax “may be presented on a nation-wide program.” The detail about a torch being used to scorch the fuselage was taken from yet another hoax from 1948.
Wrapping up Act 2, per the script, Whedon said that of the UFO cases analyzed, only 1.9% remained unexplained, classified as “Unknown.” Edwards said,
“Yet if even only one in a hundred represented an object of interplanetary origin, we still would have to call this the biggest news of this or any century. What's the opinion of those who believe in flying saucers about that 2% - or for that matter what about their opinion of the Air Force analysis program, Project Blue Book? There are several sides to every story; you've heard only one.”
Act 3
Donald Keyhoe was introduced to present the pro-UFO point of view. Asked about Blue Book’s figures, he emphatically disputed the percentage of unknowns, and their findings in the crash of Capt. Thomas Mantell and other cases regarded as solved. He came out early with the extraterrestrial hypothesis for flying saucers:
Keyhoe: Our National Investigations Committee has hundreds of UFO reports from highly trained observers describing real objects maneuvering under intelligent control.
Douglas: Real objects under intelligent control. Is the implication being that they originate in outer space, I suppose?
Keyhoe: Well, actually, that is a probability which is shared by many pilots and many scientists…
He continued by citing the details of several UFO cases that he thought contained evidence of genuine phenomena. Keyhoe’s actual time with the intro was just shy of ten minutes long, and at the end of it, something distracting happened, which we’ll examine later.
He was followed by skeptic Dr. Donald Menzel, Harvard astronomer who was negative on Keyhoe’s outlook, “In my opinion, it’s not the reports of flying saucers that should be analyzed, it’s the non-qualified interpreters themselves who argue that these saucers come from outer space.”
Before the final commercial break, Edwards said, “…certainly there must be much in the heavens left to be explained… This evening, we've given you the facts as we've found them. We leave them with you. What do you think?”
The closing segment was with Richard E. Horner, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research and Development, who began by insisting they were not hiding UFO information from the public. He stated that 10 years of investigation had explained all but “a small percentage of these reports.” What followed was a soft disclosure.
“A report of a special scientific panel on UFOs assembled at the request of the United States government concludes that the evidence shows no indication that these phenomena constitute a direct physical threat to national security. They find no evidence that UFOs are capable of hostile acts, they find no evidence that UFOs indicate a need for revision of current scientific concepts, and finally, they recommend that the subject be stripped of the aura of mystery it has unfortunately acquired. The panel's findings coincide completely with the announced position of the Air Force. There is no evidence at hand that objects popularly known as flying saucers actually exist.”
While it was not identified as such, this was the Air Force’s first public acknowledgment of the CIA-sponsored Robertson Panel, and that they were following its recommendations. Only a few people watching had any clue what that meant.
To hear the audio of the program:
Recording via Wendy Connors’ Faded Discs: 09: Armstrong Circle Theatre: UFO, the Enigma of the Skies. Date of Broadcast: 01.22.1958, Running Time: 00:52:00. Synopsis: Hosted by Douglas Edwards. Guests were: Major Donald E. Keyhoe, USMC Ret., Col. Spencer Whedon, USAF and Dr. Donald Menzel.
YouTube version: UFO Archives: Project Blue Book - Col. Spenser Whedon, Dr. Donald Menzel, Major Donald Keyhoe
"Enigma" was neither a news or science program, but it did a good job of exposing the television audience to the controversies within the UFO topic. The episode had people talking, but not for the reasons the producer intended.
The Keyhoe “Silencing” Incident
One unplanned part of the program show overshadowed everything else. Nearing the end of his segment, Donald Keyhoe went off script to disclose, ”something which has never been revealed to the public.” As reported by the New York Times, Jan. 23, 1958:
“Donald E. Keyhoe… was cut off the air for about fifteen seconds during last night's television presentation of ‘The Armstrong Circle Theatre’... The incident occurred when Mr. Keyhoe said that a Senate subcommittee was investigating unidentified flying objects.”
CBS was deluged by calls, telegrams, and letters from viewers wanting to know why Keyhoe had been cut off and what he was trying to say. Citizens later also contacted congressmen, newspapers, and radio stations.
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| Dayton Daily News, Jan. 23, 1958 |
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| Associated Press, Jan. 23, 1958 |
Addressing the controversy, Irve Tunick was interviewed for radio on Jan. 23, 1958, by Long John Nebel. Tunick referred to Keyhoe’s microphone being cut as a “sad incident,” explaining that when he went off-script, “the director and the producer, working under CBS regulations, had to flip the key and cut the audio…the statement had not been approved by Continuity Acceptance…” He stressed that as a scripted program it was required to be cleared for broadcast, then all the dialogue was put on teleprompter. “It was strictly a matter of routine... It was not a matter of censorship... nor did the Air Force any way control our program.” Tunick felt it was an unfortunate distraction, “We were trying to prepare an objective, impartial program.”
Keyhoe initially accepted responsibility for the incident, but a few days later he decided there was a cover-up, and that he’d been censored, but not in the silent portion of the show. He issued a statement on NICAP letterhead on Jan. 28, 1958, saying the Air Force had refused to allow several secret documents to be mentioned.
On Jan. 31, 1958, Herbert A Carlborg, CBS Director of Editing, issued a statement explaining that when Keyhoe “departed from the prepared script,” by network policy, the producer of the show was forced to shut him down. Referring to CBS’s standard approval process by their Continuity Acceptance Department, he said, “This program had been carefully cleared for security reasons.” Keyhoe’s imagination filled in the blank about who cleared the show: “According to a CBS statement, the Armstrong Circle Theater's UFO program on January 22 had to be cleared by the Air Force for security reasons.” (From Confidential NICAP Bulletin April 4, 1958, “New Angle on Armstrong Show.”
The incident generated enormous publicity for Keyhoe, and he also had an article in The Boston Globe, Feb. 2, 1958. “TV Ruckus on Flying Saucers.”
The Air Force Response: Aftermath and Blowback
The Air Force’s initial view was through rose-colored glasses. In “New AFCIN-4 (Air Technical Intelligence Center) Plan on UFOBs,” Feb. 12, 1958, it stated: “The reaction from the CBS T.V. program, ‘UFO, Enigma of the Skies,’ Circle Theater, 22 January 1958, has been beyond expectation.” It said by Keyhoe going off-script, he had “ alienated himself with the press.”
Regarding the press, ATIC and Blue Book were “now completely divorced from public relations. … In two recent instances, ATIC has worked with a T.V. producer and magazine writer, but through a SAFIS representative [Tacker]. … There is no reason for ATIC to personally be associated in the future with UFO feature writers. ... Major Tacker [had the job of trying] to satisfy the clamor of press and public.”
It noted other developments and called for Congressional hearings on UFOs to be scuttled. “Dr. H.P. Robertson… Chairman of the 1953 UFO Scientific Panel” agreed, and “…a memorandum is being prepared for General Kelly's signature requesting the Senate sub-committee to issue a statement to the effect that preliminary findings… do not warrant further investigations.”
Major Tacker realized the Keyhoe incident was a disaster and tried to minimize the damage by writing to Senator Lyndon B. Johnson (chairman of the Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee) on Feb. 25, 1958. “It was unfortunate that the… show had to cut Major Keyhoe off... because by doing so they enhanced rather than detracted from Major Keyhoe’s position concerning his sensational and unsupported claims…”
Tacker also said the Air Force stood ready to cooperate with any Congressional Committee public hearing on UFOs. Cooperate sure, but they didn’t want them to happen at all. Maybe if Keyhoe hadn’t blurted out the secret about UFO Congressional hearings on national television, the Air Force wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble to shut them down.
Keyhoe on The Mike Wallace Interview
At that point, Keyhoe hadn’t actually seen the Scientific Panel’s report, but he found out something about who was involved. From Watch the Skies by Curtis Peebles, 1994:
“... Keyhoe had continued to work with the McClellan subcommittee. On February 14, 1958, the chief investigator told Kehoe that the Robertson panel had met under CIA sponsorship. It was disclosure the CIA had feared. NICAP immediately wrote the CIA and requested a copy.”
A few weeks after the Armstrong show, Keyhoe had another shot on national television, but with a confrontational interviewer on ABC. During his 30-minute on The Mike Wallace Interview, March 8, 1958, Keyhoe said:
“CBS and the Armstrong people were not to blame for cutting me off the air when I tried to mention the fact that a Senate committee was working on the secrecy angle. I never mentioned this that night to anyone, because I had promised that I wouldn't say anything about it on the air that - [to] the Armstrong people.”
Keyhoe also talked about the four documents he said he was not allowed to present on CBS. His characterization of the Scientific (Robertson) Panel’s conclusions:
“In ‘53 the Central Intelligence Agency and the Air Force had a special panel of scientists meet at the Pentagon to tell them what to do, and after they got through this group said you don't have proof that these things exist, not scientific proof, but you have a very strong circumstantial case. We suggest you quadruple investigations, set up special observation posts, in the meantime, release everything you've got to the American people.”
During the Wallace interview, Keyhoe displayed a script page with a portion crossed out as evidence of him being censored. In UFOs: A History 1958 January – February, Loren Gross reproduced several pages from draft 3 of the script showing Keyhoe’s material struck, purportedly cut due to Air Force pressure. Comparing the “censored” passages to the recording of the script, parts were cut for time, others re-ordered, but the pages show nothing about the Estimate of the Situation or any secret UFO documents.
In Gerald K. Haines’ study of the CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, he stated that during the Wallace interview, Keyhoe’s mention of “CIA involvement with UFOs and Agency sponsorship of the Robertson panel… prompted a series of letters to the Agency from Keyhoe and Dr. Leon Davidson…[demanding] the release of the full Robertson panel report…” Shortly afterwards, Keyhoe (and Davidson) received the1-page, “Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects.” It was a “sanitized” summary of the Panel’s conclusions, and included the names of the scientists, but made no mention of the CIA’s involvement. NICAP’s UFO Investigator, June 1958, featured an article on the document, “No Reason Given for Suppression.”
What Keyhoe Said He Said, and What He Really Said
There’s a lot of mythology about the silencing incident. Lance Moody wrote, “This led to many folks assuming he had been censored or silenced by the evil government.” There’s much confusion over the circumstances and exactly what Keyhoe was trying to say.
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| "And now..." |
Much of the confusion came from the man himself. Keyhoe reported at least three different versions of what he’d said.
1 - Keyhoe’s statement on NICAP letterhead, from Jan. 28, 1958:
"In the last six months, we (NICAP) have been working with a Senate committee investigating official secrecy on Unidentified Flying Objects. If open hearings are held, I feel it will prove beyond doubt that the flying saucers are real machines under intelligent control.”
2 - Argosy, June 1960, “Flying Saucers: Menace or Myth?” by Keyhoe, “as told to Harold Salkin.”
“The soundless portion was this: ‘For the past six months, our group has been working with a Senate committee on the secrecy of unidentified flying objects. If they hold public hearings with the information we have given them, it would prove that these things are real and under intelligent control.’"
3 - From chapter 11 of Keyhoe’s 1960 book, Flying Saucers: Top Secret, “The Armstrong Theater Battle.”
"And now I'm going to reveal something that has never been disclosed before. (Costello…ordered my microphone switched off…) For the last six months, we have been working with a Congressional committee investigating official secrecy about UFOs. If all the evidence we have given this committee is made public in open hearings, it will absolutely prove that the UFOs are real machines under intelligent control."
All three versions are similar, but inaccurate. More importantly, the statement that Keyhoe claimed was cut off was not part of the silent section. His complete sentence about working with the Senate committee was audible. So was the next sentence, except for the last four words, “machines under intelligent control.” From the audio recording, we can hear that there were only about five seconds completely silent. The only part truly lost was his final sentence, the plea to write in support of open hearings. Below is the transcript, beginning with the sentence before Keyhoe diverged from the script.
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| "And now..." |
“American people are wise enough to evaluate this material, providing it is presented fully and accurately; the National Investigations Committee hopes that this will be done promptly. And now Mr. Edwards I would like to make a disclosure, which – something which has never been revealed to the public. For the last six months, our Committee has been working with a senate committee which is investigating official secrecy on UFOs. If the hearings are held, open hearings, I feel it will prove beyond doubt [fades] that the flying saucers are real [inaudibly, machines under intelligent control]. In order to ensure the information, we need – we suggest that all of the citizens with us write to… [3 seconds unintelligible, your congressman]. "
Keyhoe stopped speaking. The camera cut to Edwards, who said, “Thank you Major Keyhoe.”
In his 1960 book, Keyhoe said he felt the cuts to his script meant that, “The Air Force evidently had laid down strict conditions which gave them complete control.”
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| Flying Saucers: Top Secret |
Donald Keyhoe’s career capitalized on promoting the notion of a UFO cover-up, and the incident seemed to validate his claims. No professional could have staged a more effective publicity stunt. The facts didn’t matter, and Keyhoe became revered as a martyr of ufology, someone the authorities had been unable to silence.
. . .
The Silencing Legend as Portrayed throughout UFO History
The initial coverage of the Armstrong Circle Theatre incident in saucer magazines was based on the program itself and newspaper accounts. They were fairly grounded, but then mythology took over.
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| Gray Barker's 1956 book did much to popularize paranoia about being silenced. |
The APRO Bulletin, Jan. 1958 criticized the show for being “a mere rehashing of old propaganda,” yet, “the producers are to be commended for even handling the subject at all.” Regarding the silence, APRO predicted, “It is not known at this time whether Mr. Ke[y]hoe was censored... But whatever it was, this incident probably did more harm to the Air Force case (at least among interested UFO fans) than anything else on the show.”
In the Saucerian Bulletin, April 1958, Gray Barker published a short account of the show, a photo of Keyhoe, “as shot from the TV screen by August C. Roberts,” and a fairly accurate transcription of Keyhoe’s closing statements.
Jim Moseley’s Saucer News April-May 1958 accurately reported on the incident in, “Major Keyhoe ‘Silenced’ During Nation-wide Television Appearance.”
The UK’s Flying Saucer Review March/April 1958, printed “Major Keyhoe Cut off the Air,”which stated, “Here is further evidence that the authorities are sitting on dynamite!”
The FSR Sept/Oct 1958 issue published a letter by Richard Ogden (a disciple of George Adamski).
“It seems quite apparent that C.B.S. was following Air Force orders to put the lid on Keyhoe if he got too hot! Thus we have a conspiracy of alarming proportions… This is a menacing situation when the Air Force holds so much power over a TV network that we no longer have the freedom of speech, our Constitutional right!”
NICAP’s UFO Investigator, June 1958, had nothing to say about the incident, just that in the program, the Air Force had stressed “the weakest sightings and hoaxes.”
Fate magazine’s May and July 1958 editorials both discussed Keyhoe’s appearance on the CBS program. Ray Palmer hyped things in his editorial for Flying Saucers from Other Worlds, May 1958. The sensational cover blurb asked, “Why did TV Saucer Documentary Avoid Truth? --- No Witnesses Allowed.” Palmer was friends with Kenneth Arnold, and took his side of the story. He quoted Arnold’s withdrawal telegram, and portrayed the show was as part of the UFO cover-up.
And into History
A selection of highlights showing how UFO history has canonized Keyhoe’s Armstrong Circle Theatre incident.
In 1971, Paris Flammonde’s The Age of Flying Saucers: Notes on a Projected History of Unidentified Flying Objects melodramatically retold Keyhoe’s story. When his material was edited and “returned to him for broadcast use, he discovered that it had been eviscerated, which left him with a “vacuous, disemboweled script.” Flammonde said the incident was “an involuntary restatement that” the Air Force had no “intention of telling the truth” about UFOs.
David Jacobs 1976 book, The UFO Controversy in America contained a fanciful version of the event, mixing what Keyhoe wanted to say and the actual events.
Keyhoe was featured in 1992 as one of the “Saucer People” in the 36-card set from Kitchen Sink Press. The card was called, “Moment of Silence,” illustrated by Eric Nesheim. The text stated:
“In 1958, Keyhoe appeared on a CBS TV program about UFOs. The lone UFO supporter, he was exasperated with the heavy editing done to his script by Air Force officials. When he began to disclose information not cleared by the AF his voice was cut off the air, supposedly for reasons of national security."
Big Book of the Unexplained written by Doug Moench, featured in its UFO section, “Classified Quotes,” illustrated by Paul Guinan. Produced by DC Comics, 1997.
In 2000, Richard Dolan wrote in UFOs and the National Security State: Chronology of a Cover-up, 1941–1973, “Yet, the Armstrong Theater program had raised a question that could not be erased: if there was nothing secret about UFO's, why did the program have to be cleared for security, and why was Keyhoe’s audio cut?"
“Network UFO Broadcast Censored in 1958” by Richard Hall in Journal of UFO History, Jan/Feb, 2005, and reprinted on the NICAP site, was a recounting of the story favoring Keyhoe's perspctive.
In 2008, Billy Cox, wrote in his De Void UFO column that when Keyhoe went off-script, “CBS pulled the audio plug... viewers never heard the message, because CBS had worked out a prearranged deal with the Air Force.” He characterized the incident as a “ripoff of the public trust.”
Dominick T. Armentano later wrote “My Life as a Libertarian,” an essay about two personal experiences that were a catalyst to his “political transformation.” One was watching the UFO program as a high school student:
“At one point in the program Keyhoe suddenly broke away from his prepared remarks, looked at the camera and said: ‘And now I am going to reveal something that has never been disclosed before . . .’ but his microphone abruptly went dead. The live TV audience saw his lips moving (me included) but his audio had been terminated by CBS and the U.S. Air Force under prior agreement. I think I became a radical libertarian at that very moment.”
He also discussed it in, “UFOs and Censorship — Why Cato Institute Dumped Me” by Dom Armentano, Feb. 25, 2008.
Ancient Aliens season 13 episode 01 was broadcast on April 27, 2018, “The UFO Conspiracy,” covered the Keyhoe incident and even had a (badly edited) clip of it. The narrator stated:
“It was later discovered that Air Force officials had been stationed in the control booth during the broadcast. And there are many who still believe that Keyhoe's audio was deliberately cut in order to keep him from revealing top secret information concerning the government's ongoing UFO investigations.”
The 2023 book, Against the Odds: Major Donald E. Keyhoe and His Battle to End UFO Secrecy by Linda Powell, again casts Keyhoe as David vs. Goliath in the chapter, "Strong-Armed by Armstrong."
In the 2023 book, UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life… Garrett Graff wrote, “In the end, it didn't matter. What a later generation would call the Streisand effect had already taken hold: censoring Keyhoe spread his message far more widely than it would have happened had CBS just let him finish his sentence...”
Acknowledgements and Further Information
Thanks to Lance Moody for his 2017 work in tracking down and documenting the differences in Donald Keyhoe’s versions of the story, and how it was mythologized.
Thanks to Jeff Knox for allowing the use of material he gathered from newspapers and UFO literature in his series on X: “Today in UFO History” - Donald Keyhoe Cut-off On Armstrong Circle Theater.
The obituary for writer Irve Tunick from The New York Times, Sept. 10, 1987.
