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Project Sign Progress Report, 1948

U.S. Department of War · 1948 · 45 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is an initial Project Sign progress report dated April 1948, sent from Headquarters, Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to the Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force. It tabulates about 100 unidentified flying object reports received through February 1948, covering shape, size, number of objects, speed and exhaust trails. Dr. Irving Langmuir found the data insufficient for a positive identification. Headquarters judged that a low aspect ratio aircraft using boundary layer control could reproduce many of the reported characteristics.

From the source: Release of 2026-07-10 Incident: 1948, Various. This file contains an initial report from the Air Materiel Command regarding Project Sign. Project Sign was a 1948-1949 U.S. Air Force program to investigate the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects (UFO). The report details 100 UFO sightings from 1947-1948. The file also contains an article excerpted from “The Aeroplane,” an aviation-focused periodical magazine published between 1911 and 1968, titled “The Biology of the Flying Saucer.”

cot~FIDENTIAL
Incident
10. color Shape Si•e sound
50 Stated aa
queer 11.&ht.
Referred to aa aauoer
but not stated as being
ot thie detinite shape.
Kot stated Jfot atated
51 11lver Bomd Not stated •ot •tated
52 llhite. ah1Dy Circular like a ball
en the bott011 but not
completely round.
15-25 tt Diameter !lot atated
521 ■ilk mite Bot atated •ot stated lone
53 Whit. C1roular 36 inches diameter Rot stated
54 Rot atated Not etated Rot eta,ed Not stated
55 RecUab lot stated Bot atated None
56 Dia glow ot
light Round 2 :tt. d1aaeter Hone
lfot stated Kot atated
58 Blaok Saucer (not det1n1tel7
1tated •• being tbia
shape)
Larger than C~4
airplane
Not stated
59 Incandescent
11Cht without
appreciable
blue and no
redd1eh tinae.
Hot stated Not atated Hot stated
60 Plame oolor Diec shaped (the 11'ter
glow •de 1t look like
a oone)
Barrel Bead, dinner
plate am the aise
ot a plane tl71,ng
hi&h.
Wot stated
61 White ancS
111Ullinated Bot stated Sue ot Pigeons lfot 1tated
62 YelloV1ah
vhite Bot stated 811811 Mot stated
Gleuaed and
Shialered D1so (not actuall7
stated aa being ot
this shape)
, rt. a1aaeter and
ot no great th1ok•
neaa.
lot stated
64 Color 111111ar Kot stated
to eiectr1c 11.&ht. lot stated Hot stated
65 lot ltated Bot stated 15 1nohea diaaeter lot stated
66 Bright onnge lot stated lot atated Hot stated
67 Jllutal col01" top 1urtaoe al1ghtly IJ.-6 tt 1n le~h ll'ot stated
57
h1ghl7 po111h- ournd-larger 1n front 4
ed chi-Ollium. than 1n the rear . :~e:O-l 1nchea liOMflDENTIALNND 927545

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Case file, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 45 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.