The Alsos Mission: World War II Program To Spy on Enemy Scientific Advances

The Alsos Mission: World War II Program To Spy on Enemy Scientific Advances Released on December 29, 2020, through The Black Vault, a document archive, this declassified CIA document reveals the details of the Alsos Mission, a secret program aimed at discovering enemy scientific developments during World War II. Provenance: This document was released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, processed by the CIA in accordance with the FOIA and the CIA Information Act. The documents were previously released and are now being provided as a result of this request. The Document: Central Intelligence Agency Washington, D.C. 20505 30 November 2020 John Greenewald, Jr. 27305 West Live Oak Road Suite # 1203 Castaic, CA 91384 Reference: F- 2020-00876 Dear Requester, This letter is a final response to your 10 February 2020 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records, electronic or otherwise, that pertain to: The Alsos Mission. This would include, but not be limited to, reports, memos, letters, etc. that pertain to the above. We processed your request in accordance with the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended, and the CIA Information Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3141, as amended. Our records show that we had a previous search for records on the subject of your request. Therefore, we searched our previously released database and located the enclosed four documents, totaling 24 pages. Please be advised that these documents were released as a result of that search in connection with this subject. [Four lines redacted under exemption B1] SUBJECT: V - T Fuses, no: Tho A881.8tant Chief of Staff, 6-2 Suprare Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, APO 757, c/o Postmaster, New York, New York 1. Reference is ble de to her lepartment radio number 89354 dated 9 January 1945 and subsequent radios from 6-2 SHAEF relative to the above subject matter. 2. The War Department and the Office of Scientific Research and Development are anxious that complete and detailed information on the following general topics be obtained: a. Energy action to our V-T fuse. b. Energy knowledge of the fuse. c. Enemy's capabilities and plans for developing and using our V-fuse or similar fuse. d. Enemy's capabilities and plans regarding the development and use of countermeasures against our V-T fuse. 3. In view of the scientific aspects of the above question, the War Department and the Office of Scientific Research and Development have instructed the ALSOS Mission to make a field investigation of the subject primarily for the War Department but coordinating the results of its investigation with any similar investigations being conducted by other technical or other agencies. [Four lines redacted under exemption B1] 4. Dr. H. G. Salant, representing the Office of Scientific Research and Development and this War Department, will depart in the near future for the European Theater to be attached to the ALSOS Mission to function as the chief scientific worker for the War Department's field research on this subject. 5. It is requested that all theater agencies concerned with this project cooperate and coordinate with the ALSOS Mission and that a complete interchange of information on this subject matter be effected. The ALSOS Mission has been instructed to furnish you and any theater agency you designate all information it receives on the subject, and to give you copies of all reports on the subject it renders to the War Department. Context: The Alsos Mission was an organized effort by a team of British and United States military, scientific, and intelligence personnel to discover enemy scientific developments during World War II. Its chief focus was on the German nuclear energy project, but it also investigated both chemical and biological weapons and the means to deliver them. Outro: This is what the public record looks like at its most ordinary. The document is available at storyflo.com and can be accessed at https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/the-alsos-mission-world-war-ii-program-to-spy-on-enemy-scientific-advances/.