Documents / Official release
This FBI file serial collects 1947 Army Air Forces reports on flying disc sightings. It includes Air Defense Command interviews from September 1947 with Pan American pilot Alpheus Powell and navigator Walter White about orange objects seen near Boston on 4 August 1947. It also holds a Birmingham, Alabama report with a photograph, newspaper clippings and a sergeant's sworn statement, Newfoundland and Alaska sighting reports, notes on an instrument found in Illinois, and a Weather Bureau memo on a metallic disk.
From the source:Release of 2026-05-08 Incident: N/A, N/A. The FBI's 62-HQ-83894 case file includes investigative records, eyewitness testimonies, and public reports concerning Unidentified Flying Objects and flying discs documented between June 1947 and July 1968. The records include high-profile incident accounts, photographic evidence from sites like Oak Ridge, TN, and technical proposals regarding potential propulsion systems. Additional topics include convention programs, researcher accounts, and extensive media coverage from the period. This file is partially posted on FBI vault with more redactions and some pages missing. Included here is the complete case file with several newly declassified pages and only minor redactions.
“Headquarters”18 pages
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# CONFIDENTIAL FINAL REPORT OF SIGHTING. changed to Kestucke authority of CC AD ATC and by 614g.42 (Name) (Rank) (Date) 1. Org. : 1388th AAF BU, NBC, ATLD, ATC. Harmon Field, Newfoundland. 2. Sighting : Flying Disc or other airborne object. 3. Place : Approx six (6) miles SSW of Harmon Field. 4. Time : 2000/7, 10 July 1947 5. Altitude : 8-10,000 ft. 6. Weather : Clear, Scattered Cumulus 8 - 10, 000 ft. 7. Heading : NNE on horizontal course. 8. Speed : Very high velocity. 9. Shape & Size: Circular like a wheel, estimated to be same size as a C-54 as seen from 10.000 ft. 10. Color : Translucent or Silvery, left a Bluish Black trail approx 15 miles long. 11. Photographs: Mr. Robert W. Leidy reported that he took two (2) Kodachrome snap shots of the trail. 12. Repeated By: Mr. John N. Merhman, TWA mechanic; Mr. John W. Woodruff, PAA mechanic; and Mr. Robert E. Leidy, PAA mechanic reported the above facts to the Intelligence Officer on 15 July 1947. A Flash Report was TWX ed to: Action copy Commanding General, Hq. ATC, Attn. Asst. Chief of Staff, Intelligence. Info copies: Commanding Generals Hq. ATLD and Hq. NEC 13. General : Mister's Merhman, Woodruff, and Leidy were enroute from Stephenville Crossing to Harmon Field at the time of the sighting. Mr. Woodruff was the first to see the Disc, it appeared to rent or split the clouds thru which it passed and left a Bluish Black trail approx. fifteen (15) miles long behind it. The trail was similar to the afterglow of a powerful landing light or search light beam after it is suddenly switched off. The object maintained a straight and horizontal course according to Mr. Merhman and Mr. Woodruff, Mr. Leidy stated it appeared to be on a great curved course on a horizontal plane. The object disappeared into the North Northeast. Mr. Leidy says he took two (2) Kodachrome Photographs of the trail. The film has been transmitted to the Asst. Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Newfoundland Base Command for processing. William H. Smith CAPT. A.C. Intelligence Officer
Official release, 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. 126 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.