Department of War PURSUE File
CIA-UAP-004, CASE 17708 (CLOSED) and DR. Leon Davidson
1958
Editorial summary
This January 1958 CIA memorandum, from the Chicago office to the Contact Division support branch, records a phone conversation with Dr. Leon Davidson about Case 17708, listed as closed. The agency told Davidson it could not resolve his questions about a so-called space message and its transmitter because records on the transmitter had been destroyed by the originating agency. The memo notes Davidson accepted the answer, said he had a second article ready for publication about Air Force handling of space sightings, and hinted he might raise the matter again later.
Editorial summary written by govweird from the declassified document text. The official government description follows below.
Government description
This 1958 CIA memorandum discussing a phone conversation with Dr. Leon Davidson regarding concerns about a destroyed "space message and its transmitter." A redacted version of this memorandum has been available on CIA's public website.
Caption issued by the U.S. Department of War on war.gov/ufo. Verbatim, unedited.
Originating agency
Central Intelligence Agency
Record type
Incident date
1958
Incident location
Unspecified
Release tranche
Release 03 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release