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.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
## 3. Great Britain ## a. The Armstrong Whitworth The AW 52 G, a glider, and the AW 52, a twin-jet airplane, are British designs of tailless aircraft. The vertical stabilizers are located at the tips of the swept-back wing. (Figs. 4 and 5) Data on the AW 52 appear below. Span Lenth Max. Speed (sea level) Max. Speed (20,000 feet) Max. Speed (36,000 feet) Range Power Plant 37 feet 90 feet 435 knots 435 knots 417 knots 1300 nautical miles 2 Nene II turbo jet units
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.