Documents / FOIA release
This Federal Bureau of Investigation file release gathers memos, teletypes and letters from 1949 and 1950 on flying saucer reports. Most of it covers a March 1950 claim by a Knoxville radio technician that his surplus APN-7 radar detected an object over Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Navy radar never confirmed the object, and Air Force examiners judged his equipment unreliable. Other items include a cardboard saucer hoax near Elmira, New York, a pilot's 1949 formation sighting in Oregon and a Denver claim of a crashed disc.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
A short time after receiving the above information, Special Agent OID, 3rd Army, stationed at Knoxville, telephonically communicated with this office to determine if any further information had been received regarding the matter reported by Mr. was, at that time, given all of the information which had been received by this office. He advised that he had been called by his headquarters, CIO, 3rd Army, Atlanta, Georgia, and had been told to look into the matter to determine if it had any basis in fact. Mr. continued that he had made arrangements with Mr. to have him and Special Agent CBI, U.S. Air Forces, to visit his home during the evening of March 2, 1950 and observe the radar indications with him. He advised that neither he nor Mr. had any radar experience and were in no sense technicians or radar operators, but would make their observations merely to determine if a real reading was being made by On the morning of March 3, 1950, again telephonically communicated with this office and advised the Liaison Agent, Special Agent that he and had been with during the previous evening and that they had observed on his radar sensor some "pipes"-which, according to him, indicated an object with the same general elevation and azimuth as previously reported by him. said they were unable to make any authoritative statement concerning the matter of the object or the reliability of the radar equipment, but they had seen sufficient to give the reason to believe it warranted investigation. General inquiry at this time at and other readily available sources of information divulged the fact that is generally recognized in this vicinity as a reputable and substantial citizen in Knowville and, in addition thereto, is recognized as somewhat of a radio authority. It was found that he is credited with being a skilled radio tech and has done considerable development and research work in the field of radio Due to the interest which was being portrayed by all agencies concerned with this matter, the Bureau at this time was apprised by telephone conversation with at the Bureau concerning the facts known. As a result of this conversation, SA was instructed to follow the matter in the capacity of an observer and to advise the Bureau of any important developments. Arrangements were made through Lieutenant Commander Commanding Officer, U. S. Kaval Reserve Training Center, Alsoa Highway, Knoxville, for the Research Training Center to put into operation radar equi which they have. At approximately 10:30 A.M. on the same day, this radar
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. 66 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.