Documents / FOIA release

The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (Nicap)

Central Intelligence Agency · 2001-03-12 · 186 pages · text by OCR

This is a copy of "The UFO Evidence," a report published in May 1964 by the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) in Washington, D.C. and edited by Richard H. Hall. The CIA released its copy in 2001. The report draws 746 sightings from more than 5,000 signed reports and argues that unexplained UFOs are real, artificial objects under intelligent control. It criticizes Air Force secrecy and calls for a Congressional inquiry into Project Blue Book and a larger scientific investigation.

  • p. 15 …I had never heard of flying saucers and had no idea what we had seen, but…
  • p. 29 …Photograph never made public. 47. 6-30-54 Brookley AFB, Alabama Control tower operators Radar-visual…
  • p. 34 …It never did drop below the horizon--just faded away. The fading, of course, was due…
  • p. 50 …airports for 16 years." Sonner said, "and never before have I seen an aircraft like it…
  • p. 56 …5 minutes."It was something I had never seen before."UFO finally ascended straight up out…
  • p. 57 …Each "ship" also had, emanating from the "stern" portion, two "tails", seemingly streaming out horizontally, never…
  • p. 58 …It did not flicker, it burned steadily the weatherman said, but its light could never appear…
  • p. 72 …it went over the first hill and never over 1000 feet during my observation." Mr. Hahn…
  • p. 87 …was first being developed, and they have never been acceptably explained. The celebrated Washington radar sightings…
  • p. 88 …It has never been known to occur, there is no theoretical basis for believing that it…
  • p. 89 …The UFO showed on the film as a round, bright spot. (The film has never been…
  • p. 93 …NICAP has never obtained any negatives for analysis. Prints show disc from five different angles. Critics…
  • p. 94 …Picture reportedly showing unexplained circular light source, never made public. See "Report on Unidentified Flying Objects…
  • p. 96 …The many other reports from alleged additional witnesses were never received from Mr. Stanford. His background…
  • p. 97 …The first possibility to cross our minds was a polyethelyne type balloon, but we have never…
  • p. 98 …at least three consecutive frames, you'd never find it. Moreover, internal lens reflections (also countless…
  • p. 112 …Congressional hearings were contemplated See Section XIII but never came about. Instead, Air Force Congressional Liaison…
  • p. 113 …Film Data reportedly analyzed by USAF, but never released to public See Section VIII: Apr. 27…
  • p. 114 …Therefore, I never saw it in its published form. However, since I had prepared it - as…
  • p. 116 …I have never heard anyone claim anything to the contrary. . . ." ODE D"CLASSIC" - SEAGULLS (FROM COLORED…
  • p. 118 …proved highly impressive to one who had never before seen the Nation's Capital.) The interrogation…
  • p. 121 …could be a jet tanker refueling operation. Never having witnessed refueling operation at night, I am…
  • p. 125 …As far as is known, the pictures have never been published and no explanation of the…
  • p. 126 …I have never seen anything like it before." 42 ## The European Continent On the Continent, UFOs…
  • p. 129 …The USAF analysis report has never been released. ## C. OCEAN & ANTARCTIA UFOs have been sighted at…
  • p. 134 …Lincoln LaPaz, Institute of Meteoritics, said: "There has never been a rate of meteorite fall in…
  • p. 135 …film submitted to Air Force, never released. VIII UFO; film submitted to Air Force, never released…
  • p. 138 …I've been observing the skies since 1914, and I've never seen any meteoric fireballs…
  • p. 164 …which was also photographed. (The pictures have never been made public). The UFO was seen moving…
  • p. 165 …One of the most intriguing accounts, never fully investigated, described a whitish oval-shaped object observed…
  • p. 174 …Since most of the material presented to the Committees is classified, the hearings are never printed…
  • p. 175 …to a newsman's question: "UFOs have never been accurately explained. I think there is as…
  • p. 183 …things, is that the raw data almost never permit of measurement. It should be carefully noted…
# SECTION XI

# THE UFO CHRONOLOGY

## 19th Century

Roman numerals in brackets indicate numbers of other Sections which contain information about a given case in this Chronology.

August 6, 1860--Norfolk, Va. Two objects, one red and one green, flew overhead together, moving with an undulating motion.

1877--England. Three meteor-like objects moving together with "remarkable slowness" flew across the sky, visible about three minutes, "moving with the same velocity and grade of regularity. [as] a flock of wild geese." [Credit: Charles Fort, from Report of the British Association, 1877-152]

July 3, 1884--Norwood, N.Y. Saturn-shaped UFO (globe with central ring) flew slowly overhead. [Credit: Charles Fort, from Science Monthly, 2-136]

1896-1897--Mysterious "Airship" reported all across United States.

## Early 20th Century

February 28, 1904--Formation of three maneuvering objects sighted by U.S.S. Supply in North Pacific off San Francisco. [II]

December 22, 1909--Worcester, Mass. "Mysterious Airship" emitting a bright beam of light appeared moving SE to NW, hovered over city, moved away. Seen again two hours later; hovered, moved away to south and turned east. Observed over Boston and Lynn, Mass. next night. [N.Y. Tribune, 12-23-09; N.Y. Sun, 12-24-09]

July 19, 1916--Unidentified luminous object shaped like a dirigible observed over Huntington, W. Va. [Credit: Charles Fort, from Scientific American, 115-241]

Early 1918--Near Waco, Texas. Reddish cigar-shaped object, with no motor or rigging, passed silently from SW to NE.

1923--Greencastle, Indiana. Revolving red object passed overhead from NE to SW. Two witnesses currently are college professors.

January 1924--Oklahoma. White oval-shaped object lit up ground, moved out of sight over horizon.

August 5, 1926--Himalayan Mountains. Explorer Nicholas Roerich and others in his caravan observed a shiny oval-shaped object move overhead, changing course. [I]

November 1928--Milton, N.D. A UFO, round "like an inverted soup plate," sped overhead emitting rays of light which illuminated the ground and startled cattle.

January 1, 1931--Cobden, Ont., Canada. UFO sighted in early morning, had bright light on front which lit up tree-tops, flashing lights on rear. Object made sweeping curve, sped up and climbed out of sight.

April or May 1932--Durham, N.Y. Aluminum-like disc with periphery of yellowish lights or "portholes" on underside.

1932 or 1933--Oakland, California. About seven brilliant objects in a group flew from 30 degrees elevation in the east to 45 degrees elevation in the west, in an arc. Witness now college graduate, former USAF pilot.

## World War II "Foo-Fighter" Era

August 29, 1942--Columbus, Miss. Control tower operator at Army Air Base saw two round reddish objects hover over field. [III]

Approx. 1943--Washington, D.C. Sighting of UFO formation by Metropolitan policeman. [VII]

March 1944--Carlsbad, N.M. Air Force pilot saw fast-moving UFO speed out of sight over horizon. [III]

Summer 1944--Normandy, France. Los Angeles columnist George Todt, in a party of four Army officers including a Lt. Col., watched a pulsating red fireball sail up to the front lines, hover for 15 minutes, then move away. [IV]

July 1944--Brest, France. Two men of the 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, saw a large rectangular object with no apparent source of propulsion move steadily over the front lines and out to sea. The UFO at one point passed in front of the moon, briefly obscuring it from view. [IV]

August 10, 1944--Sumatra. Sighting of maneuvering UFO which paced B-29 during mission. [III]

October 1944--Southeast Holland. Field Artillery officer and men saw a brilliant object moving from NW to SW, crossing an arc of about 90 degrees in about 45 minutes. [IV]

November 1944--France. 415th Night Fighter Squadron pilot saw formation of round objects. [III]

December 1944--Austria. B-17 pilot and crew, on a lone wolf mission, were followed by an amber-colored disc. [III]

January 1945--Germany. Another 415th Night Fighter Squadron pilot was followed by three red and white lighted objects over Germany. [III]

January 2, 1945--The New York Times carried an AP dispatch from France about several recent "foo-fighter" sightings. Lt. Donald Meiers said he had twice been followed by UFOs. [III]

March 1945--Aleutian Islands. Fourteen men on the U.S.A.T. Delarof (an attack transport) saw a dark spherical object which rose out of the water, circled the ship and flew away. An official report on the incident was sent to Washington. [IV]

May 1946--LaGrange, Florida. A Navy gunnery and radar officer observed a dark elliptical object which moved slowly overhead, disappearing in a cloud bank. [I]

July-August 1946--Swedish "Ghost rocket" sightings. [X] August 1, 1946--Florida. Observation of cigar-shaped UFO by Air Corps transport pilot. [III]

## 1947

[See Section XII, June-July 1947 "Flap," for additional details] June 23, 1947--Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Railroad engineer saw 10 shiny disc-shaped objects, very high, fluttering along in a string toward NW. [XII]

June 24, 1947--Mt. Ranier, Wash. Kenneth Arnold sighting. [V] Term "Flying saucer" coined.

June 28, 1947--Nr Lake Mead, Nevada. USAF F-51 pilot reported a formation of 5-6 circular objects. [III]

June 28, 1947--Maxwell AFB, Ala. Zig-zagging light seen by pilots, intelligence officers. [III]

June 29, 1947--White Sands, N.M. Naval rocket expert, at test grounds observed a silvery disc. [IV]

July 4, 1947--Portland, Oregon. Police and many others saw many UFOs in formations and singly beginning about 1:05 p.m. [II, XII]

July 4, 1947--Nr. Boise, Idaho. United Airlines pilot and crew, enroute to Portland, Ore., saw 9 disc-like UFOs. [V]

July 4, 1947--Seattle, Wash. Coast Guard yeoman took first known photograph of UFO, a circular object which moved across the wind. Photo shows round dot of light. [VIII, XII]

July 4, 1947--Redmond, Oregon. Car full of people saw four disc-shaped UFOs streak past Mt. Jefferson. [XII]

July 6, 1947--Fairfield-Suisun AFB, Calif. Pilot reported "oscillating" UFO which shot across sky. [III]

Cases discussed

About this file

FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 186 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.