I've stumbled across this quote when I was arguing with UFO fans:
“I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth.”
– President Harry S. Truman. April 4, 1950. White House Press Conference.
Truman was reported to have made at least two UFO comments while at his "Southern White House." In April 1950 he passed this message through his press secretary " I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth."
But there don't seem to be any other verification of this.
Even if he said it, the phrase 'given that they exist', might just mean 'if they exist', or 'assuming that they exist', not an admission that they do exist. It would be a slightly odd way of saying it, but some more recent Presidents have had much odder turns of speech.
This is veering off-topic, but what "moon hoax" would he have been referring to in 1947? Nowadays that term usually means the idea that the manned moon landings were faked.
This is veering off-topic, but what "moon hoax" would he have been referring to in 1947? Nowadays that term usually means the idea that the manned moon landings were faked.
He's talking about speculation in the newspapers that the UFOs might be from another planet, and that seems to remind him of a classic newspaper hoax about aliens on the moon.
The "Great Moon Hoax" refers to a series of six articles that were published in The Sun, a New York newspaper, beginning on August 25, 1835, about the supposed discovery of life and even civilization on the Moon. The discoveries were falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel, one of the best-known astronomers of that time.
...
The articles described fantastic animals on the Moon, including bison, goats, unicorns, bipedal tail-less beavers and bat-like winged humanoids ("Vespertilio-homo") who built temples. There were trees, oceans and beaches. These discoveries were supposedly made with "an immense telescope of an entirely new principle."
Even if he said it, the phrase 'given that they exist', might just mean 'if they exist', or 'assuming that they exist', not an admission that they do exist. It would be a slightly odd way of saying it, but some more recent Presidents have had much odder turns of speech.
While it seems there's currently zero evidence to suggest that Truman said this, or anything resembling this, I have to disagree with the above interpretation of the word "given".
To me, "given that they exist" = "they exist".
I believe it's being used here as a preposition:
given
preposition
taking into account.
"given the complexity of the task, they did a good job"
synonyms: considering, taking into consideration, taking into account, in view of, bearing in mind, giving consideration to, keeping in mind, in the light of; making allowances for; assuming
While it seems there's currently zero evidence to suggest that Truman said this, or anything resembling this, I have to disagree with the above interpretation of the word "given".
To me, "given that they exist" = "they exist".
I believe it's being used here as a preposition:
given
preposition
taking into account.
"given the complexity of the task, they did a good job"
synonyms: considering, taking into consideration, taking into account, in view of, bearing in mind, giving consideration to, keeping in mind, in the light of; making allowances for; assuming
“I can assure you that flying saucers, ASSUMING they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth.”
assuming
əˈsjuːmɪŋ/ conjunction
1.
used for the purpose of argument to indicate a premise on which a statement can be based.
"assuming that the treaty is ratified, what is its relevance?"
So it's like saying:
“I can assure you that flying saucers, for aguments sake, lets say they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth.”
I'm still reading it as NOT admitting to anything, just telling people that IF you believe they exist, they're not made by us.
except Truman didn't say it during a conference April 1950. Which means a UFO believer wrote a fake quote. and a UFO believer means 'they exist'. Why would a UFO believer have Truman say "flying saucers, if they exist, blah blah", that doesn't help the UFO world at all. Even I know that flying saucers, if they exist, aren't constructed by any power on earth. What would be the point of having Truman say such a thing that everyone already knows?
except Truman didn't say it during a conference April 1950. Which means a UFO believer wrote a fake quote. and a UFO believer means 'they exist'. Why would a UFO believer have Truman say "flying saucers, if they exist, blah blah", that doesn't help the UFO world at all. Even I know that flying saucers, if they exist, aren't constructed by any power on earth. What would be the point of having Truman say such a thing that everyone already knows?
In that time, early in the Cold War, were there not suspicions that the mysterious 'flying saucers' might be secret weapons built by the USA itself, the USSR, or some other earthly power? There were rumours that Nazi Germany had developed very advanced aircraft technology, work on which secretly continued after the War. According to this Wikipedia article, in early 1950, Giuseppe Belluzzo, an Italian scientist and a former Italian Minister of National Economy under the Mussolini regime, […] claimed that "types of flying discs were designed and studied in Germany and Italy as early as 1942". Belluzzo also expressed the opinion that "some great power is launching discs to study them". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_UFOs
The timing of this would fit in rather well with Truman's alleged comments. I can imagine that in the days of Cold War paranoia some people may have preferred to be told that flying saucers were the work of advanced extraterrestrial beings rather than the dreaded Russkies.
Of course this is not evidence that Truman said it, but it might explain why he did, if he did.
So yes, Truman reading that phraseology might have been responding to Belluzos claims, meaning the technology was impossible. ? I can see your point there. But if he did, it's hard to imagine newspapers wouldn't have covered his comments since this Belluzzo thing was somewhat a sensational news story according to the archive link.
OK, I should have said the alleged timing of Truman's alleged comments!
Did Truman make any such comments in April 1950? Nobody has yet produced any clear reference to them from before 2004, which is surprising if he did make them, as the subject is intensively, not to say obsessively, studied by many people. So Truman did make some well-attested comments on flying saucers or UFOs, but probably not these.
However, I don't think the case can quite be closed. The following web page by a UFO enthusiast should obviously be read with caution, but it does refer to a report in Time magazine on 17 April 1950 which (allegedly) states that "in April 1950 Truman sends word through his press secretary that he knows nothing about the saucers". This doesn't give the exact quote, but it would fit the timing, the means of communication, and the general drift of the alleged comments. Someone who has access to the magazine's online archive (which requires subscription) or a good American reference library would be able to check this claim.
Truman sends a Message
" I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth."
This was a statement supposedly made by President Truman on April 4, 1950. Some reports have the statement coming at a Washington Press Conference. Unfortunately, Truman was at his Key West, Florida residence on the day in question and did not hold a Press Conference on that day.
Each day of the Presidency, however, his Press Secretary Charles Ross would usually hold two press scrums with reporters to answer questions. As a later "Time Magazine" article more accurately put it, the statement about the President’s claimed ignorance of the situation came from his Press Secretary. The April 17, 1950 "Time" article stated, "In April 1950 Truman sends word through his press secretary that he knows nothing about the saucers."
The UFO web page I mentioned is here: http://www.presidentialufo.com/old_site/harrys.htm It appears to be from the same site as the link Mick West gave earlier, but unlike that one it cites a verifiable source.
Added: I can't access the Time report, but I have found this brief report in the Canberra Times (Australia) of 6 April 1950, which confirms that Truman's press secretary, Charles Ross, made some statement denying any knowledge about flying saucers. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2774308 And if the story reached as far as Australia, there must surely have been reports in the American press too. The New York Times would be an obvious place to search. Of course, none of these reports yet confirm the exact words of the quote at issue, but the last sentence of the Australian report (which unfortunately is not fully legible) does appear to say that "neither the President nor members of his staff knew anything of such mysterious objects, either [illegible] of this or any other country."
Further added: zooming in on the illegible words, and playing with the brightness, I think I can decipher them as "as a secret weapon". The word "weapon" is reasonably clear, which has probably biased me to read the preceding word as "secret". Other readers can make their own minds up. If I am right, the sentence would read: "neither the President nor members of his staff knew anything of such mysterious objects, either as secret weapons of this or any other country."
1.a Press Secretary speaks to the press. Ergo, the press would have reported on it.
2. what does "knows nothing about the saucers" have to do with “I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth.” ? The second sentence is the exact opposite of the first.
Bottom line: Produce the quote in newspaper print or in private letters, OR the quote is debunked.
According to this book c.2012 page 97, and quoting the French Space Program (CNES), a radio broadcast put out the idea on April 3 1950 that the UFOs were a secret US military project -which some UFOs probably were-
and then on April 4th Charles Ross, Truman's Press Secretary, put out a statement that the military had no such projects. Later a scientist stated that such technology wasn't humanly possible.
So maybe the radio host, Henry Taylor, said the OP quote. Or the quote was a conflation of the events in this book which does give source references back to a 1983 publication of the CNES.
Zooming in on the illegible words, and playing with the brightness, I think I can decipher them as "as a secret weapon". The word "weapon" is reasonably clear, which has probably biased me to read the preceding word as "secret". Other readers can make their own minds up. If I am right, the sentence would read: "neither the President nor members of his staff knew anything of such mysterious objects, either as secret weapons of this or any other country."
if you open the doc and search for "Truman" you will see many newspaper articles from April 3rd- (I got to april 10 then stopped reading) Los angeles Times, Denver Post, NY Journal, NY Times etc .. they are text excerpts of bits of the articles, but nothing indicates Truman himself spoke at all April 4th or later, and no newspaper is quoting Charles Ross saying anything like the OP quote.
The book is called
Author: Frank Scully
Title: BEHIND THE FLYING SAUCERS
Format: Book
Publication Year: 1950
Digitizer: Bufo Calvin
an example of some in th ebook
April 4, 1950:
TRUMAN, JOHNSON TRY TO DOWN THE DISKS Washington, April 4 (UP) Mr. Truman announced through his press secretary at Key West, Florida that he knows nothing of any flying saucers being developed by this or any other country. "We are not denying this because of any developments of secret weapons, but purely because we know of nothing to support these rumors," said Press Secretary Charles G. Ross.
April 4, 1950: The New York Times "SAUCERS" CALLED REAL NAVY PLANES Washington, April 3 (AP) Recap of the magazine article from U. S. News and World Report, which declares evidence indicating revolutionary craft are of U. S. development. Included a picture of scale model built in 1942 mounted for wind tunnel tests at Langley, Va.
April 4, 1950: Denver Post
U. S. DENIES SAUCERS TEST WEAPONS
Washington, April 4 (UP) Air Force and Navy say they are not experimenting with any plane or weapon that could account for widespread reports about the flying disks. A spokesman for the Air Force after investigation of hundreds of saucer stories said the armed services are standing on conclusions reached last December that flying saucers just don't exist.
April 5, 1950: The New York Times
TRUMAN, JOHNSON RIDICULE "SAUCERS"
Key West, Fla. April 4 (Special) President Truman said today he knew nothing about the flying saucer, while other White House comment relegated the
Apparently all of Ross's transcripts are available at the Truman Library (box 12 and box 25 cover the time periods) but I'm not seeing them online.
and then I found a book published in 2003 that claims
Global implications of the UFO reality / by David E. Twichell.
Creator: Twichell, David E.
Publisher: Haverford, PA : Infinity Publishing.com, 2003.
Format: Books
Physical Description: 176 p. ;22 cm.
Identifier: (ISBN)0741417561 (pbk.)
(OCoLC)56470874
Language: English
Subjects: Unidentified flying objects -- Religious aspects
somewhat interesting, this Twichell guy is described as a MUFON field investigator.
Your 2004 link at least investigated enough to see that Charles Ross and Truman were not in DC April 4th.
I also discovered (everyone here probably already knew) that during that specific time frame UFO talk in newspapers was mega-viral [http://sohp.us/collections/ufos-a-history/pdf/GROSS-1950-Apr-July.pdf] , so definitely if Truman, Ross, any gov guy or even the scientist who spoke said anything like “I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth.”; it would have been reported in the newspapers of the time.
maybe a red herring but I did find a somewhat similar turn of phrase from a May 23, 1955 article in the NY American Journal. I found no other near-misses using the term "constructed" or "on earth".
Those "Little Men" On Flying Saucers? Real, Says Kilgallen
Remember the creepy stories about flying saucers and little men
from outer space? Dorothy Kilgallen has run into a new one in
London. Here is her dispatch to the New York Journal-American on
what a British official thinks about those "little fellows."
By Dorothy Kilgallen
Distributed by International News Service
London, May 22 - British scientists and airmen, after examining
the wreckage of a mysterious "flying ship," are convinced that
these strange aerial objects are not optical illusions or Soviet
inventions, but actually are flying saucers which originate on
another planet.
The source of my information is a British official of cabinet
rank who prefers to remain unidentified.
"We believe, on the basis of our inquiries thus far, that the
'saucers' were staffed by small men - probably under four feet
tall," my informant told me today.
"It's frightening but there is no denying the flying saucers
come from another planet."
This official quoted scientists as saying a flying ship of this
type could not have been constructed on earth.
I have found the original source of the Truman statement “I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth." in the 1995 The Rockefeller UFO Briefing Document Page 100.
You can download it here. http://www.openminds.tv/wp-content/uploads/Rockefeller-Briefing-Document.pdf
