Robertson Panel 1953 — CIA Debunking Strategy · Direct Consequence of Washington DC 1952

14–17 January 1953: CIA convenes secret expert panel under H.P. Robertson (CalTech) as a direct response to the Washington DC UFO fleet of July 1952. Objective: develop a systematic debunking strategy. Result: recommendation for the 'demystification' of UFO reports, surveillance of civilian UFO groups (NICAP, APRO), media disinformation campaign. Fully declassified in 1975 through FOIA. Proves: the US government knew that a significant percentage of sightings were inexplicable — and deliberately chose secrecy over transparency. Direct precursor to all subsequent secrecy programs (GRUDGE, BLUEBOOK, AATIP). Major Keyhoe was right.