Project Grudge
Project Grudge was initiated on February 11, 1949, and was terminated three years later in March of 1952. Although Project Grudge’s investigations lasted three whole years, only one document was produced, which was over six hundred pages long. Shortly after the document was released in 1952, the air force terminated the project. Although the personnel who made up Project Grudge stated that they had an unbiased approach to the reports, the conclusions and explanations they provided showed otherwise. From the get-go, it appeared that the aim of Project Grudge was to debunk and ridicule the reported sightings and the witnesses.
Interestingly enough, the project even included a public relations campaign in which articles were posted, highlighting the fact that UFO sightings were hoaxes and attempts by people to gain fame. It is with no surprise that the Grudge report denied the extraterrestrial hypothesis, even though several reports contained convincing evidence were supposedly investigated. The conclusions Project Grudge came to are the following:
1. There is no evidence that objects reported upon are the result of an advanced scientific foreign development, and, therefore, they constitute no direct threat to the national security. In view of this, it is recommended that the investigation and study of reports of unidentified flying objects be reduced in scope.
2. All evidence and analyses indicate that reports of unidentified flying objects are the result of:
a. Misinterpretation of various conventional objects.
b. A mild form of mass hysteria of “war nerves.”
c. Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetrate a hoax or to seek publicity.
d. Psychopathological persons.
3. Planned release of unusual aerial objects coupled with the release of related psychological propaganda could cause mass hysteria:
a. Employment of these methods by or against an enemy would yield similar results
The conclusions offered are certainly inadequate and inconclusive. The air force claimed that these objects did not pose a threat to national security, nor did they exhibit any characteristics that indicated that they were scientifically more advanced than terrestrial aircraft. This first statement in itself is inaccurate. The term UFO states that the object is unidentified. If an unidentified aircraft has infiltrated a country’s airspace, isn’t that considered a threat? Moreover, if an unidentified object outmaneuvers military fighter-jets, doesn’t that imply that it is superior and more technologically advanced?
The second point the report made was that UFO sightings were a misidentification of conventional aircraft, a result of mass hysteria or a hoax. Although it is true that the majority of UFO sightings do have a natural explanation, the cases examined in this book cannot be as easily explained. As a matter of fact, all cases covered in this book cannot be sufficiently explained using traditional hypotheses (such as the weather balloon explanation and the bright stars/planets explanation). In cases such as The Battle of L.A in which thousands of individuals had observed multiple UFOs in the sky, it would be foolish to conclude that the sighting was a delusion. Moreover, claiming that all UFO reports are a result of those four explanations is most definitely generalization, as there are multiple reports made by credible individuals who did not gain anything from them reporting their sighting. Actually, the only thing they did gain was harassment and ridicule.
Once again, although the personnel involved in Project Grudge claimed to have had an unbiased and objective approach, the facts prove otherwise.