Documents / Report
This 1954 to 1955 U.S. Air Force file brings together records on the Avro Canada "flying saucer" project and on UFO reports. It includes a December 1954 Scientific Advisory Board report, sent by J. H. Doolittle, which found the project warranted only limited support. It also holds a July 1955 intelligence committee evaluation of KC-97 crew sightings and radar returns over Newfoundland, which tentatively blamed electrical phenomena and misinterpretation and recommended fighter scrambles. A November 1955 memo on the CIRVIS reporting program closes the file.
From the source:Release of 2026-07-10 Incident: 1955, Various. This file contains reports, memoranda, and correspondence concerning various then-developmental vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The file includes assessments of the experimental potential of the “Avro Project Y2,” a joint U.S.-Canadian near-circular VTOL aircraft that is similar in appearance to contemporary popular descriptions of unidentified flying objects (UFO). A 1954 memorandum opines that VTOL aircraft with a circular planform may be mistaken for UFOs to observers unfamiliar with such technologies. It also recommends that UFO reports in the vicinity of Soviet military operations or assets be re-examined to assess whether they may be attributable to previously unknown advanced VTOL aircraft of foreign design. The file also contains correspondence relating to a UFO incident involving a U.S. Air Force (USAF) KC-97 flying near Newfoundland, Canada in July 1955. A USAF committee found that the characteristics described in the report were inconsistent with those of known Soviet, American, or Canadian military systems. The committee was also “unable to explain the simultaneous ground radar returns and aircrew visual sightings.” It also contains correspondence relating to the potential value of data from incidental radar collection of meteors entering the atmosphere. USAF Air Research and Development Command recommended using that data to improve the performance of the AN/FPS-17 radar system. Finally, the file contains correspondence indicating support for the Communications Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings (CIRVIS) program, a joint U.S.-Canadian civil-military program to standardize reporting methods for unusual or unidentified airborne and maritime hazards and threats.
TO DEPARTMEN ----,---------+-----+--------«-------'I GRADE - SUMMARY l. On 6 July the cm ot a e'b.1ect 1n the l'elffnndlaa4 aNt& 1 CICI raclar in the aaae ar-. obtaiaed a raclar r•~ o~,aa !b.1ect vllich apparently,,.. 14-'tical to 1:he one the KC-97 crew ba4 Dier viaual obeenation. by tbia Directorate t. eV&l:ct&te this sighting reviewed r-.,orta n111~:riz1Dg the inciclent by the Bortlleaat Air CCIIIIM4. ' A.F RQ- 50 fl!."' 21 June 48)44► ....,' Hf}I 10-5 I OFFICE OF PREPARATION .UOil-204 TEL.SURNAME Col Whitaain/t>PS 52466 l'.C-97 taker ~rtecl the aigb:tillg ot an Wli4entifie4 ) • At the tiae ot the aightiq a A CQllllittee, appoiatec1. !he e-:1 ttee ten:tativel.1' attribute4 the sighting to electrical ph-.eacm and visual Jliainte17retaticm by aircrew J1811ltera. . At the auae tiae, honver, the P--~ttee 41acuee4 the poaaibility that the object might have been an hip pertomu.ce 'IUlCODva.ticmal aircraft. !bi• Directorate is or the op1Jlien that tbe clevelopaent of such an aircraft by u untri~_nation woucl. conetitute a aeriou teolmelopcal threat to the Uaited states, and therefore eve-ry ettort mat be aa4e to 14eatity ·aightiaga 1n the tature. ... 2. In ita cliacuaaioa of aethecla to be uaed to obta:f.B 1i.ent11'1catien or objects aighte41a a similar fashion ill th.e tuture, the CGIIM:Jttee eoael114ecl that the aetho4 po•••••iD& the ••t l1ke.l.ihoe4 of su.ceeaa YWl4 1-e interceptio ot the ob.1ect by tia;b.ter 'tile •~t •t :tat.are incicleJlta ot.thia natve fighters ulq. , , •. •• . .• . 3•. Atta.cul u !ab A ia a JropNe4 •••ace to the ee.uMr IIACCII, tirectiBg •• • aCJ:'lllllJi. ot llaJra aa reecaanua 1t7 tu Nll■i ttee. • •• DCCIIIIIDA.TIOJI FRANK B. CHAPPELLIt.. Sipature of attached •aaage. Colonel USAF Directorate ot Intelligex1ce l Incl PrQoae4 ••a toC4r DAC ~1703 I 00 11579
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Report, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 57 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.