Operation Paperclip

According to a recent study by Google, Operation Paperclip is the third most commonly searched for topic by conspiracy therorists. It is also the fifth most common historical event search outside of a war. It is one of the most investigated topics from WWII, but most people have no clue what Operation Paperclip was.

Operation Paperclip was the US Government's code name for a program that was started after World War II. The goal of this program was to bring German scientists to the United States and the United Kingdom to find out what they were working on. This was not an attempt to prosecute these criminals, but to protect them. This was also an attempt to make sure that the knowledge of these scientists did not fall into the hands of the Soviet Union.

The Operation Paperclip program originally started as Operation Overcast in the US and Operation Surgeon in the UK. Operation Paperclip was officially started in September of 1946 when President Harry Truman agreed to share these scientists with the UK to assist with the growing issues between the United States and the Soviet Union. Truman was quoted in released documentation that he did not want any member of the Nazi Party or SS brought to the United States. This order was ignored.

Most of the scientists that were, "saved from disaster," during Operation Paperclip worked in the fields of aerodynamics, rocketry, technology, medicine, and chemistry (specializing in chemical weapons and chemical reactions). Because of their work with the Nazi Party, they would have been unable to apply for Visas to the United States.

When the Military originally contacted the US State Department about the scientists and Operation Paperclip, most of their Visas were denied because of their ties to the Nazi regime. When the CIA Director, Allen Dulles found out about the State Department's denial of Operation Paperclip he was furious that the State Department would not allow these scientists into the US. He had their dossiers modified to make sure that they did not appear to be criminals, and had them resubmitted. All of the scientists were then approved.