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Official reports, hearing transcripts, case files and releases: the paper behind the cases. 2,872 documents, 2,610 mirrored with their text, 53,529 pages indexed, so a search reads inside them and lands on the page.
New in the library The PURSUE files The Department of War's UAP release, mirrored in full: the videos, recordings and images, each beside its case file.Documents1,049 records · page 9
This is the Central Intelligence Agency Office of Current Intelligence's Current Intelligence Weekly Summary for 9 November 1962, a secret periodical of intelligence appraisals. Much of it covers the Cuban missile crisis: Soviet missile equipment being loaded onto ships in Cuban ports, IL-28 bombers still in Cuba, and Khrushchev's moves to hold together Soviet bloc support. Other sections cover the Sino-Indian border conflict, Laos, Yemen, the Congo, European elections and Ne Win's Burma. It contains no UFO material.
This Central Intelligence Agency record carries an estimated publication date of 1963. It abstracts an article by F. Zigel of the Moscow Aviation Institute, who argues that UFOs deserve serious scientific study and that the hypothesis of craft from other planets merits examination. The article describes the UFO Section of the All-Union Cosmonautics Committee, formed in October 1967 and chaired by Major General Stolyarov. It also argues that the Tungusky body may have been an artificial craft that maneuvered before exploding.
This Central Intelligence Agency file, dated April 1963, contains financial and travel records for Project MOSES, run by CIA General Counsel Lawrence R. Houston. It includes requests for advances of funds for a Project MOSES agent, along with domestic travel vouchers for trips from Washington, D.C. to New York City, West Palm Beach and Miami in March and April 1963. The records cover airfare for Houston and two agents, per diem and operational expenses. Receipts for the operational expenses were not obtained, for security reasons.
This Central Intelligence Agency personality file on Soviet official Nikolay Sergeyevich Leonov (201-132139), with material dated 1953 to 1963, compiles cables, FBI documents, surveillance reports, press photos and passport copies. It records his Soviet Embassy service in Mexico City, the finding of his calling card in Fidel Castro's address book in 1956, and his role as Castro's interpreter in the USSR in 1963. A source identified him as a KGB officer, and a DIA item alleged he was planning Latin American insurgency.
This is an undated, untitled Central Intelligence Agency note, approved for release on 16 June 1978. It reports that a Chief Petty Officer at Patuxent Naval Air Station picked up three consecutive UFO radar trackings on December 19 between 3:15 and 3:30 P.M. One object was tracked moving toward the base at an estimated 6,000 miles per hour, and another made a 160 degree turn. An FAA station at Salisbury, Maryland had also received Coast Guard reports of UFOs.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum to the Chief, Contact Division, dated 25 January 1965, confirms a 19 January 1965 meeting with Richard Harris Hall, Acting Director of NICAP. At that meeting NICAP lent UFO sighting samples and reports, which were passed to OSI to help it prepare a paper on UFOs. The memo describes how NICAP investigates sightings and records NICAP's view that the Air Force downplays UFOs. It also recounts Hall's report of three separate radar sightings at Patuxent Naval Air Station on 19 December 1964.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum to the Director of Central Intelligence, from the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, evaluates recent publicized UFO reports. It cites a California incident traced to an aircraft, reports linked to a Gemini launch attributed to fragments causing radar reflections, and a Patuxent, Maryland radar case blamed on malfunctioning circuitry. It finds no evidence that UFOs are of foreign origin or threaten United States security, says the Office of Scientific Intelligence concurs with Air Force conclusions, and attaches Air Force sighting statistics.
This undated CIA memo, released later, describes radar reports from a Chief Petty Officer at Patuxent Naval Air Station. On December 19, 1967, between 3:15 and 3:30 P.M., the station made three consecutive radar trackings. One object was estimated to be moving toward the base at 6,000 miles per hour, and another made a 160 degree turn. An FAA station at Salisbury, Maryland had received Coast Guard UFO reports, and the objects' altitudes were estimated at 3,000 to 25,000 feet.
This Central Intelligence Agency file, dated January 1965, holds handwritten notes on a radar sighting at Patuxent Naval Air Station. Radar tracked unidentified objects three times on December 19 between 3:15 and 3:30 P.M., including two objects moving toward the base at an estimated 6,000 miles per hour. The notes also record a request to evaluate recent UFO activity by 21 January 1965, and they mention NICAP and a magazine article claiming the Air Force was downplaying the subject.
This is a Central Intelligence Agency memorandum dated 4 January 1965 from Donald F. Chamberlain of the Office of Scientific Intelligence to the Assistant Director for Special Activities. It reviews an incident on 19 November 1964 in which a US Navy F-8C pilot reported a delta-shaped object faster than Mach 3. The memo concludes that there was no ultra-high-speed UFO. The object was probably a high-performance fighter, possibly a MiG-21 on reconnaissance. The file also includes a 1958 memo that refers reported UFO photography to the Air Force.
This CIA handwritten note, dated 19 January 1965, records a radar report from a Naval Air Station officer. It describes three trackings of UFOs on 19 December, with an estimated speed of 6,000 miles per hour and altitudes between 8,000 and 20,000 feet. It adds that an FAA station at Salisbury, Maryland had picked up Coast Guard messages about the sightings. The notes also cover NICAP and a magazine article by Keyhoe, and a request that OSI evaluate recent flying object reports.
This Central Intelligence Agency file from January 1965 pairs a memorandum on UFOs from the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence with a Contact Division memo about the National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). The first memo concludes that there is no evidence UFOs are of foreign origin or a threat to US security, and it attaches Air Force statistics. The second records a 19 January 1965 meeting with NICAP's Richard Hall, who described the December 1964 radar sightings at Patuxent Naval Air Station.
This CIA memorandum from the Office of Scientific Intelligence, dated February 1965, analyzes reported UFO incidents from November 1964. It concludes there was no high altitude, ultra-high-speed UFO. It finds that the object a US Navy F-8C pilot saw on 19 November was probably a delta-wing fighter, possibly on MiG-21 reconnaissance during missile test firings. Also attached is a 1958 memo from Herbert Scoville, Jr. that refers a Photographic Intelligence Center report on a Mr. Fine's UFO photographs to the Air Force.
This single CIA page, dated 1965-04-02, is a transcript of Latin American press reports from May 1962. It opens with a Prensa Latina item about the Argentine Communist Party calling for a popular front against the government. A second section repeats AFP reports of unidentified flying objects over Bahia Blanca. On 21 May many residents watched a luminous body hover and then vanish. A newspaper reporter photographed it, and the Cordoba Astronomical Observatory asked the public to send in their observations.
This Central Intelligence Agency release is a Scientific Intelligence Study, TCS No. 4425/65. The Scientific Intelligence Committee prepared it with other intelligence community committees and approved it on 3 June 1965. It assesses Communist China's capabilities in science and technology through 1970, with particular attention to military and industrial programs. The study concludes that China will lag far behind advanced nations. The exceptions are a few priority areas such as nuclear weapons, missiles and air defense. It contains no discussion of UFOs.
This Central Intelligence Agency document is a page of foreign press summaries on Argentina, compiled from July 1965 news agency reports. It covers a government resolution against Tacuara and other extremist groups, a meatpacking industry crisis, continued relations with Algeria, and crude oil bids. One item, credited to ANSA, reports that Argentine, Chilean and British Antarctic bases watched red, green and yellow flying saucers over Decepción Island for two hours. It adds that they were also seen flying in formation over the South Orkney islands.
This Central Intelligence Agency document, dated 7 July 1965, is a page from a compilation of Latin American press items. Most items cover Argentine politics and the economy: an interior ministry resolution against nationalist groups and the Communist Youth Federation, a meatpacking crisis, relations with Algeria, and crude oil imports. One ANSA item says Argentine, Chilean and British bases in Antarctica saw red, green and yellow flying saucers over Deception Island for two hours. It adds that they were also seen flying in formation over the South Orkney islands.
This undated Central Intelligence Agency release, catalogued with an estimated date of 1966, is Volume 2 of a set of pharmacological test data on compounds identified only by number, from unknown projects. It holds tables on intravenous toxicity in mice, giving LD50 and MED50 values and reaction signs. It also has tables on the dominance behavior of squirrel monkeys and on blood pressure, heart rate and respiration in chloralosed cats. The text contains no conclusions and does not mention aerial phenomena.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, written by David B. Stevenson of OSI, records a 19 July 1966 visit from Sara B. Hunt of the Air Force Office of Information. She came to discuss an Air Force request to declassify the February 1953 Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects. It notes that H. P. Robertson's television appearance caused a press reaction and that a sanitized version had been approved in 1957. It also states that further declassification would require significant deletions.
This undated CIA letter answers a request from Colonel Gerald E. Jorgensen, Chief of the Air Force Office of Information's Community Relations Division, to declassify the "Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects." It states that the Office of Scientific Intelligence found the original report could not be declassified. Instead, an unclassified version leaving out the names of personnel and organizations had been prepared. The CIA asked that the Agency's sponsorship of the panel not be publicized further and that participants not be listed in unclassified releases.
This is a CIA Office of Scientific Intelligence memorandum for record by David B. Stevenson, dated 23 August 1966. It covers three phone calls in August from Mrs. Sara Hunt of the Air Force Office of Information about the Air Force's request to declassify a CIA UFO report. Stevenson told her the response had gone out and that references to CIA and the names of CIA employees had been removed. The Air Force confirmed it had received the reply and asked for its copy of the report back.
This CIA memorandum for record was written by D. B. Stevenson of the Office of Scientific Intelligence and dated 11 August 1966. It records a 10 August phone call from Miss Sara Hunt of the Air Force Office of Information, who asked about the status of an Air Force request to declassify a CIA UFO report. On Dr. Walter Mackey's instructions, she was told the declassified report was being retyped and would be sent soon. Hunt said the Air Force wanted to show it to newsman John Leard, who had written about UFOs in the Saturday Review.
This is a Central Intelligence Agency memorandum for record by D. B. Stevenson of OSI, dated 11 August 1966. It follows up an Air Force request, referenced in a 20 July 1966 memo, to declassify a CIA UFO report. Sara Hunt of the Air Force Office of Information phoned on 10 August to ask for a status update. On Dr. Walter Mackey's instructions, she was told the declassified report was being retyped and would be forwarded soon. Hunt said the Air Force wanted to show it to a newsman who had written on UFOs in the Saturday Review.
This CIA memorandum by David B. Stevenson of OSI, dated 20 July 1966, records a visit from Sara B. Hunt of the Air Force Office of Information about an Air Force request to declassify the February 1953 Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects. The request followed a 12 May television program on which panel chairman Dr. H. P. Robertson referred to CIA involvement. Stevenson noted that a sanitized version had already been released, and he said further declassification would require significant deletions.
This CIA Historical Review Program release, dated 1966-07-28 and released under the JFK Act, reproduces a New York Review article by Richard H. Popkin reviewing Edward Jay Epstein's Inquest and Harold Weisberg's Whitewash. The article argues that Oswald could not have fired all the shots in the Kennedy assassination. It points to FBI reports, the Zapruder film and bullet No. 399. Popkin proposes a two-assassin conspiracy involving a 'second Oswald' and calls for release of the autopsy photographs and X-rays.
This Central Intelligence Agency information report, marked as unevaluated information and dated 1966, relays a pilot's account of a sighting on 17 June 1966 near Tehran. While circling the Rudashur beacon at about 18,000 feet, the source saw a brilliant white sphere on the horizon toward the Soviet Union. It grew larger and fainter over four to five minutes. Another airliner also saw it. The pilot suggested it may have been gases from a man-made explosion lit by the sun.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum for the Director of Central Intelligence, signed by Executive Officer Walter D. Hacey, reviews the U.S. Air Force's 1966 requests to declassify the 1953 report of the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence panel on unidentified flying objects. It traces a sanitized 1957 release, panel chairman H. P. Robertson's reported television remarks, and publicity from a Saturday Review article. It records that OSI forwarded a declassified version of the complete report to the Air Force on 15 August.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum for record, written by David B. Stevenson of the Office of Scientific Intelligence and dated 23 August 1966, logs phone calls from Mrs. Sara Hunt of the Air Force Office of Information about an Air Force request to declassify a CIA UFO report. Stevenson told her the CIA had sent its reply and that references to CIA and the names of CIA employees had been removed. He also said further sanitizing had probably been done. The Air Force then asked for its copy of the report back.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 1 September 1966 and signed by an OSI executive officer, reviews Air Force requests to declassify CIA material on unidentified flying objects. It recounts how OSI convened a panel of scientists in 1953, chaired by Dr. H. P. Robertson, whose report was classified secret. A sanitized version of its conclusions went to the USAF in 1957. After further 1966 requests citing prior publicity, a declassified version of the complete report was forwarded to the Air Force on 15 August.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 1967, answers a speed letter of 30 January 1967 requesting analysis of UFO photographs. Analysts examined copy prints rather than originals, comparing grain, edge sharpness and changes in image size between prints. They concluded that the photographs could not establish whether the object was a genuine UFO or a model. Several factors were said to fit the model theory, and the memo noted that analysing the original photographs might allow a definite conclusion.
This 1967 memorandum from the Director of the CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) informs a CIA deputy director that the U.S. Air Force contract with the University of Colorado to investigate UFOs is underway. The contract is worth $325,000 and is scheduled to run 18 months. The author asks for approval to host the project's scientists at NPIC for a technical briefing on photogrammetry. He states that the CIA would take no part in the project's conclusions but could keep a window on the program.
This CIA memorandum for the record, dated 1967, describes a 20 February 1967 visit by Dr. E.U. Condon and members of his University of Colorado UFO study team to the National Photographic Interpretation Center. Mr. Lundahl agreed that NPIC would give technical photogrammetric help but no written reports or conclusions, and that the work would not be credited to CIA. The group was briefed on photogrammetry, microdensitometers and measuring instruments, and on NPIC's analysis of UFO photographs.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum of 5 January 1967, addressed to the Director of the National Photographic Interpretation Center, reports a photo analysis of Polaroid photographs of an alleged UFO taken on the shore of Lake St. Clair, Michigan, supplied by the Air Force's Aerial Phenomena Office at Wright-Patterson AFB. Using Major R.W. Nyls's site measurements and several assumptions, it estimates approximate dimensions. It finds no definite evidence of a hoax, notes suspicious features, and calls the result inconclusive.
This Central Intelligence Agency monthly report for February 1967 contains two short items about UFO work. It records that Dr. Condon and his associates of the UFO consultant group spent the morning of 20 February receiving a briefing on photogrammetry and mensuration techniques and touring mensuration instruments in operation. It also reports that the UFO Mensuration Support project was closed after as thorough an evaluation as the photographic prints permitted. No definite conclusion about the authenticity of the image could be reached.
This Central Intelligence Agency routing slip is dated 5 February 1967 in the archive record. It is a short internal transmittal form with the director's office listed as its first stop. A handwritten remark says the original and three copies were sent to Dr. Ratchford on 27 March 1967, and that he would pass them on to Sir Gordon. The slip does not say what the forwarded material contains.
This memorandum was written by Arthur C. Lundahl, Director of the National Photographic Interpretation Center, to the CIA's Deputy Director for Intelligence and dated 7 February 1967. It describes the $325,000, 18-month U.S. Air Force contract under which the University of Colorado, led by Dr. E. U. Condon, is studying UFOs. It asks for approval to host project scientists on 20 February for a briefing on photogrammetry and optical equipment. It also says NPIC will not take part in writing the project's conclusions.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum to the Director of the National Photographic Interpretation Center, dated 17 February 1967, reports a photo analysis of Polaroid pictures of an alleged UFO taken on the shore of Lake St. Clair, Michigan. The photographs came from the Aerial Phenomena Office at Wright-Patterson AFB, and Major R.W. Nyls of the USAF supplied measurements of the site. The analysts estimated approximate dimensions from several stated assumptions. They found no definite evidence of a hoax, noted suspicious features, and called the result inconclusive.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum for the record documents a visit to NPIC by Dr. E.U. Condon and four members of his team on 20 February 1967. The visit was tied to the Air Force's $300,000 contract with the University of Colorado to study UFO sightings. NPIC agreed to do technical photogrammetric work only, with no written reports or conclusions, and Condon was told not to identify the work as CIA's. The group received briefings on photogrammetry, microdensitometers and measurement instruments.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 21 February 1967, answers a speed letter of 30 January 1967 asking for analysis of UFO images on furnished photographic prints. The analysts note that copies, not originals, were examined, compare image sharpness and size between prints, and weigh a distant large object against a small nearby model. They conclude that authenticity cannot be decided from the prints, that an analysis of the original photograph would provide more information, and that several facts fit the model theory.
This Central Intelligence Agency cable from Contacts New York to Contacts Washington, dated March 1967, concerns a request for the film "UFO-Fact or Fancy." It says the established agency in New York could handle the request most quickly. It adds that taking on routine film actions tends to confuse the harmonious relationship on film procurement. The document was approved for release on 17 November 1978.
This Central Intelligence Agency monthly report for February 1967 is dated 13 March 1967. It records that on 20 February, Dr. Condon and associates from the UFO consultant group received a briefing on photogrammetry and mensuration techniques and toured working mensuration instruments. It also reports that the UFO Mensuration Support project was closed after as thorough an evaluation as the photographic prints permitted. No definite conclusion about the authenticity of the image could be reached.
This is a Central Intelligence Agency routing slip dated 24 March 1967. It is a short internal transmittal record with no substantive report attached in the text. A handwritten remark says the original and copies were sent to Dr. Ratchford on 27 March 1967, and he would forward them to Dr. Condon. A second note says the book looked acceptable to the writer and asks a colleague to check it for any major problems.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum for the record describes a 5 May 1967 briefing given to Dr. Edward Condon of the University of Colorado and colleagues on an NPIC analyst's analysis of the Zanesville, Ohio, UFO photography. The attendees praised the work, which used ground survey, mathematical, photogrammetric and densitometric techniques. Condon called it the first scientific UFO analysis that would stand up to investigation. The memo also records plans to move further analysis under Air Force and University of Colorado funding, to review NICAP photographs and to seek more publicity.
This is a short Central Intelligence Agency cable dated 10 April 1967, sent from the Contacts office in New York to Contacts in Washington. It concerns a request for a film titled "UFO-Fact or Fancy." New York says the agency's established channels there would handle the request most quickly. It warns that getting involved in routine film actions tends to disrupt the smooth working relationship on film procurement. The document was approved for release on 17 November 1978.
This 1967 Central Intelligence Agency information report, distributed 18 August 1967 and marked unevaluated, describes conversations with Soviet scientists about unidentified flying objects in the USSR. Astronomers mention sightings in the Caucasus and northern USSR, a reddish object seen by several astronomers, and ball lightning reports in Kazakhstan explained as headlight reflections. The report concludes that no official Soviet treatment of UFOs exists, that Menzel's book is widely cited, and that Soviet astronomers might embrace research more readily than US counterparts.