Documents / Report
This Top Secret Air Intelligence Division Study No. 203, prepared jointly by USAF and ONI intelligence and dated 10 December 1948, analyzes about 210 reported flying object incidents in the United States. It concludes that some type of flying object has been observed, but that its identification and origin cannot be determined. The study weighs domestic explanations such as weather balloons, rockets, flying wing aircraft and celestial phenomena against possible Soviet devices based on German flying wing designs. Its appendices include selected incident reports and descriptions of flying wing aircraft.
From the source:Release of 2026-07-10 Incident: 12/10/48, Virginia. This file contains a U.S. Air Force (USAF) Air Intelligence Division study, “Analysis of Flying Object Incidents in the United States,” Study No. 203, dated 12/10/1948. The analysis includes an assessment of various reported unidentified flying object (UFO) incidents and theories to account for their nature and origin. Overall, the study assesses that “it appears that some object has been seen; however, the identification of that object cannot be readily accomplished.” The study offers that two “reasonable” origins might account for the phenomena: technologies of a domestic or foreign origin. It also suggests that, if foreign, it is prudent for the United States to assume that UFO observations are attributable to scientific, military, or intelligence activities of the Soviet Union, and, in that case, to take seriously the threat such objects may pose. The file also contains contemporary UFO reports and examples of experimental “flying wing” type aircraft planforms that might account for certain commonly reported UFO characteristics. AARO Comment: This file appears to be an earlier draft version of the file contained in DOW-UAP-D094, whose content is substantively similar.
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# CONFIDENTIAL # APPENDIX "D" FLYING WING TYPE AIRCRAFT 1. Aeronautical engineers in several countries have been engaged for some time in the design, construction, and flight of flying wing type aircraft. The study of flying objects requires, at least, a brief examination of proposed and existing unconventional aircraft whose configurations, when seen by the uninitiated, could lead to reports of strange flying devices. A description of some of the more significant types by country follows. ## 2. Germany At the end of World War II, German aircraft designers had numerous projects under way concerning tailless aircraft which conceivably could be mistaken for "Flying Saucers" or disc-like objects. It is not clear just what the Soviets are doing in the way of developing these projects but it is considered that German studies on tailless, delta-wing, and related configurations are available to the U.S.S.R. a. Arado Night and Bad Weather Fighter. Project I This is a tailless, low-wing monoplane with swept-back wing of large root chord and having a long, narrow fuselage. Span 60.3 feet Length 42.5 feet Power Plant 2 HeS 011 turbo jet units Max. Speed (sea level) 441 mph. Max. Speed (29,500 feet) 503 mph. b. Arado B 581-4 A high-wing tailless single-seater with a single jet unit mounted in the fuselage. Fin and rudder units are mounted on the wing midway between fuselage and wing tip at the trailing edge. Span 29.3 feet Length 18.4 feet Power Plant 1 HeS 011 turbo jet unit Max. Speed (sea level) -- Max. Speed (service ceiling) --
Report, from the pursue 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. 67 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.