Documents / FOIA release
This is a US Air Force Project Blue Book fact sheet dated 1 February 1966. It explains the program's history as Projects Sign and Grudge, its two objectives, its three-phase investigation process, and how reports are classed as identified, insufficient data or unidentified. It concludes that no UFO has threatened national security or shown technology beyond current science, and that nothing indicates extraterrestrial vehicles. It also includes sighting statistics for 1947 to 1965 and an American Meteor Society fireball report form.
.. PROJECT BLUE BOOK The United States Air Force has the responsibility under the Department of Defense for the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The name of this program, which has been in operation since 1948, is Project Blue Book. It has been identified in the past as Project Sign and Project Grudge. Air Force interest in unidentified flying objects is related directly to the Air Force responsi- bility for the air defense of the United States. Procedures for conducting this pr~gram are estab- lished by Air Force Regulation 200-2. The objectives of Project Blue Book are two-fold: first, to determine whether UFOs pose a threat to the security of the United States; and, second, to determine whether UFOs exhibit any unique scientific information or advanced technology which could contribute to scientific or technical research. In the course of accomplishing these objectives, Project Blue Book strives to identify and explain all UFO sightings reported to the Air Force. HOW THE PROGRAM IS CONDUCTED The program is conducted in three phases. The first phase includes receipt of UFO reports ~d initial investigation of the reports. The Air Force base nearest the location of a report.ed sight- ing is charged with the responsibility of investigating the sighting and forwarding the information to the Project Blue Book Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. If the initial investigation does not reveal a positive identification or explanation, a second phase of more intensive analysiS is conducted by the Project Blue Book Office. Each case is objec- tively and scientifically analyzed, and, if necessary, all of the scientific facilities available to the Air Force can be used to assist in arriving at an identification or explanation. All persoMel asso- ciated with the investigation, analysis, and evaluation efforts of the project view each report with a scientific approach and an open mind. The third phase of the program is dissemination of information concerning UFO sightings, .evaluations, and statistics. This is accomplished by the Secretary of the Air Force, Office of In- formation. The Air Force defines an unidentified flying object as any aerial object which the observer is unable to identify • Reports of unfamiliar objects in the sky are submitted to the Air Force from many sources. These sources include military and civilian pilots, weather observers, amateur astronomers, business and professional men and women, and housewives, etc. Frequently such objects as missiles, balloons, birds, kites, searchlights, aircraft navigation and anticollision beacc~.s, jet engine exhaust, condensation trails, astronomical bodies and meteor- ological phenomena are mistakenly reported as unidentified flying objects. The Air Force groups its evaluations of UFO reports under three general headings: (1) identified, (2) insufficient data, and (3) unidentified. 1
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FOIA release, from the osd collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 12 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.