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.
Balloons continue to be reported as uros. Several tbousand balloons are released each day from military and civilian airports, weather stations, and research activities. There are several types of balloons - weather balloons, rawinsondes, radiosondes, and the large research balloons which have diameters up to 300 feet. At night, balloons carry running lights which cause an unusual appearance when observed. Reflection of the sun on balloons at dawn and sunset sometimes produce strange ef- fects. This usually occurs when the balloon, because of its altitudes, is exposed to the sun. Large bal- loons can move at speeds of over 100 miles per hour when moving in high altitude jet windstreams. These balloons sometimes appear to be flattened on top. At other times, they appear to be saucer- shaped and to have lights mounted inside the bag itself due to the sun's rays reflecting through the material of the balloon. The Balloon Control Center at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, main- tains a plot on all MWtary Upper Air Research Balloona. Another category of UFO evaluations labeled Other includes missiles, reflections, mirages, searchlights, birds, kites, spurious radar indications, hoaxes, fireworks, and nares. Aircraft, satellites, balloons, and the like should NOT be reported since they do not fall within the definition of an unidentified fiying object. 3
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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.