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.
Report Number Shape Sound Trail Weather 1 No definite shape could be determined None None CAVU 2 3 Irregular; round, Dis not appear particularly disc-shaped None None Not stated 4 5 None stated; seemed like a bright light None None Clear moonlight 6 No details other than that shape was uniform with no protuberances None Possible vapor trails CAVU 7 8 None definite, but seemed flat on base with the top slightly rough in contour None None CAVU 9 Round, disc-shaped None None CAVU 10 No shape could be distinguished None None Sunny 11 Not stated, but report refers to "saucer" several times None None CAVU 12 Same as Report No. 11 None None CAVU 13 Flat object, of light-reflecting nature which appeared to be without vertical fin or any visible wings None None Not stated 14 Egg-shaped, or like barrel head None None CAVU 15 Circular in shape, like wagon wheel None Bluish black trail approx. 15 mi. long Clear with scattered cumulus at 8 to 10,000' 16 Resembled balloon None None Not stated
Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 126 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.