---
tags:
  - Organization
  - Intelligence
  - Nuclear
  - USA
category: "U.S. Government"
summary: "The Nuclear Intelligence Panel (NIP) was a highly classified U.S. government nuclear intelligence group whose members, including Harold M. Agnew, concluded that the 1979 VELA satellite flash was a nuclear detonation and were dismayed by White House interference in their investigation."
---
The Nuclear Intelligence Panel (NIP) is a highly classified nuclear intelligence group within the U.S. government. Its members, including [[Harold M. Agnew]] and [[Louis H. Roddis, Jr.]], conducted their own investigation into the 1979 [[VELA Satellite]] sighting and concluded that a low-yield nuclear weapon had most certainly been detonated. They were dismayed by the extent of [[White House]] interference in the investigation, which they believed was politically motivated to find a different explanation for the event.[^1]

### Footnotes

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 20.