AARO Historical Record Report Volume 1

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AARO partnered with the U.S. National Archives to examine the records from the
USAF’s Project BLUE BOOK, which spanned from 1947 to 1969. This research presented a
significant challenge because of the volume of the documentation amounted to 7,252 files
holding a total of 65,778 digital records. The vast majority of the files are populated with USAF
documentation. Some cases contain media clippings and images, but these instances are rare.
Results: Project BLUE BOOK determined that:
• No UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the USAF demonstrated any
indication of a threat to national security.
• There was no evidence submitted to, or discovered by, the USAF that sightings
represented technological developments or principles beyond the range of then-
present day scientific knowledge.
• There was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as unidentified are
“extraterrestrial vehicles.”
• Of the 12,618 sightings in Project BLUE BOOK’s holdings, 701 were categorized as
unidentified and never solved.3839
CIA Evaluation of UFOs (1964)
Background: Following high-level White House discussions on what to do if alien
intelligence was discovered or there was a new outbreak of UFO sightings, DCI John McCone
tasked the CIA to update its evaluation of UFOs. The CIA’s scientific division officially
acquired UFO-sighting case information from the director of the National Investigations
Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), a private organization founded in 1956. 40
Results: Donald F. Chamberlain, Assistant Director of OSI, subsequently informed
McCone that little had changed since the early 1950s; there was still no evidence that UFOs were
a threat to the security of the United States or that they were of “foreign origin.” 41
O’Brien Committee (1964)
Background: Dr. Brian O’Brien, a member of the USAF Scientific Advisory Board,
chaired the USAF Ad Hoc Review of Project BLUE BOOK. The committee included Carl
Sagan, a prominent astronomer from Cornell University.42
Results: The committee’s report stated that UFOs did not threaten U.S. national security
and that it could find no UFO case which represented technological or scientific advances
outside of a terrestrial framework. The committee’s primary recommendation was that this topic
merited intensive academic research and that a top university should lead the study.43
The Condon Report (April 1968)
Background: Dr. Edward U. Condon, a physicist and former Director of the National
Bureau of Standards, was the scientific director of an 18-month study on “flying saucers” funded
under a $325,000 USAF contract to the University of Colorado. This panel took a narrow and