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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.”

n
u NTIAL
?no1dent
10, Exhauat
n:,11 leaflN Att1\Jde Pt. Spefd Btteot on ClOlldl
4aa ver, tatnt S/1 llhen 1t lett
emaut trail the Y1t1n1tJ.
llben 1IO'fing.
lot 1tate4 Lett Jfot stated
T10in1t)'
at nr,
h1gb 1peed.
Gl'eenlah
111st 1hen
deaoending.
S/W ldlen it lttt
the TlO1n1ty.
lot 1tated lot stated Not stated
lot 1tatect 210 degree, lllben
1 t lett the Tic -
1.nity.
15000-20000 lot stated Hot stated
~d lone Approxblately 1l'011 4000 to
due nat lalen 1t Ter1 hi&b.
lett the T1o1n1ty.
Slow Not stated
49 Lon, trail
ot Doke. Vest Very hi&h lot atated lot stated
50 Kot stated Shor•wrd Rot atated but
•aid to be
quite close.
Slov until Bot stated
OTer land
then higher
speed lfbile
leaving.
51 Hot atated lot 1tated High Hot stated l ot stated
52 Bone Soutbnrd
;
8000-10000 JCade a P-80 Hot stated
look llke 1t
wu motion-
leH 1n the
air.
52& Wot stated 120• 6000 Approxiaate- Not stated
lT 150 aph.
53 Bot stated 120• 6000 285 aph. Not stated
5~ Bot 1tatecS Borth Sea to
lortolk
22000 Equal to Not stated
or greater
than • Brit-
1ab Mosquito .
55 lot 1tated DE 10000 Rip yel• Not ■ tated
oc1t7• 1tated
to be taster
than conyent-
1onal airplane.
56 •ot lt&ted Soutb saat 2000 tt 500-600 mph.Mot atated
CONF1DENTIALNND 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.