Documents / FOIA release
This Federal Bureau of Investigation file section collects 1947 to 1949 correspondence, memoranda and newspaper clippings about flying disc reports. It includes Hoover's replies to citizens, a Maine woman's account of a drifting object judged probably a weather balloon, a Richmond memo on a cigar-shaped object seen over Radford, Virginia on May 12, 1949, clippings on the Chiles and Whitted sighting near Montgomery, a Flyin' Saucer toy promotion, and agent interviews with witnesses in Vermont and a pilot near Bethel, Alaska.
“Socorro, New Mexico”1 page
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# Office Memorandum • UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DIRECTOR FBI SAC KNOXVILLE "FLYING SAUCERS" OBSERVED OVER OAK RIDGE AREA INTERNAL SECURITY - X There are being submitted herewith two photographs of reputedly flying saucers which were seen at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, sometime during July or 1947. All of the information contained in this letter was received from Atomic Energy Commission, and Air Material Command, United States Army, who is the principal army technician at the Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft Research Center at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. advised that the attached photographs were taken by in July of 1947. He stated that interview with revealed that he had been snapping photographs of his family in front of his residence at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, late in the afternoon, when he looked into the sky and observed the vapor trail as exhibited by the photograph numbered "1." stated that he took a snap of this trail, was winding the film to the next number, when he looked into the sky and observed the ball of fire as shown in photograph 2. Upon observing the unusual phenomena, he used his last film in taking photograph #2. made these photographs available to reporters of the Knorville News-Sentinel and a story concerning them was run in that paper; however, as shown by the photoetatic copy of the newspaper clipping, which is also being submitted herewith to the Bureau, the print was very indis- tinot; the news story did not contain any factual information; and it was regarded generally by the public at the time as a possible trick. Later, it was learned by that had made several copies of this photograph and had distributed them among his acquaintances at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Upon finding that the photographs had received some distribution, he requested as Head of the to recover as many as possible of the photographs, advise the persons in whose possession they were found to say nothing to anyone concerning them, and to return the said photographs to him for transmission to the United States Air Force Intelligence Service. advises that he succeeded in rounding up twenty-four copies of these photographs, and that, according to the statements of no more copies were made or distributed. Further stated that had appeared extremely concerned over the matter and seemed to be quite emphatic that the matter should be given no more publicity than was absolutely necessary. Also advised that he studied the negatives from which the reproductions were made, and they appeared to be authenticated in that trick photography should have been apparent, out from the RECORDED - 121 EX-31
FOIA release, from the fbi-vault collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 129 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.