Jeff Knox Profile picture
UFO historian/archivist , 30+yrs (10yr FT) studying the phenomena. https://t.co/3TpqfHCacE Interest: Geology, Arch/Anthropology, Philosophy, Sociology

Jan 22, 2023, 25 tweets

#ufotwitter #ufohistory
Today in UFO History - Donald Keyhoe Cut-off on Armstrong Circle Theater
January 22, 1958 —
1/The “UFO: The Enigma of the Skies” segment of Armstrong Circle Theater airs on CBS.

2/USAF Reserve Lt. Col. Spencer Whedon from ATIC says all UFOs are explainable. Keyhoe comes on and starts reading his script for a few minutes, then shocks everyone by deviating from it, saying “And now, Mr. Edwards, I would like to make a disclosure, something which has never

3/ 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 would prove beyond doubt that flying saucers are real—”. Then his

4/microphone is cut off, although the filming continues. Menzel then appears, then USAF spokesman Richard E. Horner comes on afterward and says that the Air Force is not hiding anything about UFOs. Keyhoe later claims this is not censorship by the show, although he thinks it is

5/the Air Force silence group at work. In April, CBS director of editing Herbert A. Carlborg tells NICAP that Keyhoe’s deviation “might lead to statements that neither this network nor the individuals on the program were authorized to release. As a consequence, public interest

6/was served.” [Eberhart]
Sources:
“Armstrong Circle Theater.” The A.P.R.O. Bulletin (January 1958): 5.
“New Angle on Armstrong Show.” Confidential NICAP Bulletin (April 4, 1958).
“Major Keyhoe Cut off the Air.” Flying Saucer Review 4, no. 2 (March/April 1958): 2–3.

Jerome Clark, "Armstrong Circle Theater Broadcast", The UFO Encyclopedia, 3rd Ed., pg.167–168;

Michael Swords et al, UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry, pg. 272-273,276;

Timothy Good, Above Top Secret, p. 286–287;

"Armstrong Circle Theater: Air Force Censorship of TV Broadcast About UFOs Stirred Controversy in 1958" Journal of UFO History Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 3-6;

Loren E. Gross, The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs, a History: 1958 January–February, The Author, 1998, pp. 23, 28–31, 34–39;

Loren E. Gross, The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs, a History: 1958 January–February, The Author, 1998, pp. 23, 28–31, 34–39; [Cont.]

Loren E. Gross, The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs, a History: 1958 January–February, The Author, 1998, pp. 23, 28–31, 34–39; [Cont.]

Loren E. Gross, The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs, a History: 1958 March–April, The Author, 1998, pp. 10–17;

Loren E. Gross, The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs, a History: 1958 March–April, The Author, 1998, pp. 10–17; [Cont.]

Keyhoe, Donald E. Flying Saucers: Top Secret. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1960, pp. 22–23;

Keyhoe, Donald E. Flying Saucers: Top Secret. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1960, pp. 155–165;

Keyhoe, Donald E. Flying Saucers: Top Secret. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1960, pp. 155–165; [Cont.}

Keyhoe, Donald E. Flying Saucers: Top Secret. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1960, pp. 155–165; [Cont.}

09: ARMSTRONG CIRCLE THEATER: UFO, the Enigma of the Skies
Date of Broadcast: 01.22.1958
Running Time: 00:52:00
archive.org/details/WendyC…

10: MIKE WALLACE INTERVIEWS, The
Date of Broadcast: 03:25:1958
Running Time: 00:25:30

archive.org/details/WendyC…

13: NICAP versus USAF on CENSORSHIP of UFO INFORMATION Date of Broadcast: 03.26.1958
Running Time: 04:06:22
archive.org/details/WendyC…

49th Parallel, Vol. 25 (Spring 2011)
Robbie Graham & Matthew Alford, A History of Government Management of UFO Perceptions through Film and Television
…thparalleljournal.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/3-grah…

Horner's Response to Barry Goldwater's Letter about Keyhoe's appearance:

The entire blue book folder zipped up for anyone who wants it. It contains the script for the show. drive.google.com/file/d/17TkZzk…

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