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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.Documents2,872 records · page 4
This is a CIA memorandum dated 31 March 1953 from F. C. Durant of the Office of Scientific Intelligence about who should handle reports of unidentified flying objects. It notes that the Office of Current Intelligence had stopped following UFO reports. Durant proposes naming David Stevenson of the Applied Science Division as the action officer for all future UFO messages. He also recommends keeping only sample reports from the old file and destroying the rest.
This Central Intelligence Agency office memorandum from H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, is addressed to the Chief of the Physics and Electronics Division of OSI. It is dated May 27, 1953, and was drafted on 20 May 1953. It gives that division responsibility for keeping current on reports of unidentified flying object sightings and asks the Applied Science Division for weapons and hardware support. It also says where the UFO files are kept and tells the division to take custody of the files it needs.
This is a letter from H. Marshall Chadwell of the Central Intelligence Agency to physicist Samuel A. Goudsmit of Brookhaven National Laboratory, dated 7 April 1953. It answers Goudsmit's March 1953 request for the name and address of a civilian flying saucer group whose pamphlets he had seen in Chadwell's files in January. The reply names the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization, which publishes the APRO Bulletin, and Civilian Saucer Investigations in Los Angeles, and it thanks Goudsmit for his help that January.
This Central Intelligence Agency item for the Director's Log, dated April 21, 1953 and signed by Richard D. Drain, Secretary of the Intelligence Advisory Committee, records a letter of 18 April from the Administrator of the Federal Civil Defense Administration. It concerns the report of a panel of scientific consultants on unidentified flying objects, which had been sent to FCDA on 13 March. The Administrator asked for a conference to discuss it, and the matter was referred to OSI to arrange.
This is a CIA Office of Scientific Intelligence memorandum for record dated 23 April 1953, signed by Philip O. Strong, Acting Deputy Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence. It records a call with Tod Babbitt about a meeting that Val Peterson had proposed in a letter. The meeting might be set for April 30th. Mr. Clark would represent OSI, and Dr. H. F. Robertson, who chaired the Panel, would go with him. The memo also discusses whether to hold the meeting in Governor Peterson's office or at OSI.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum for record, dated 24 April 1953 and signed by Philip G. Strong, Acting Deputy Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, covers the arrangements for a meeting with the FCDA. Ted Babbitt reported that any time on 30 April would suit, and CIA staff were to call him back with an exact time. Governor Peterson could not attend because he had to be at the White House. He named John deChant, Ralph E. Spear, Ted Babbitt and possibly one other person to go in his place.
This Central Intelligence Agency office memorandum, dated May 27, 1953, went from H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, to the Chief of the Physics and Electronics Division of OSI. It gives that division responsibility for keeping current knowledge of unidentified flying object sighting reports. The Applied Science Division is asked to support it from a weapons and hardware standpoint. The memo also says where existing UFO files are held and arranges for incoming material from O/CI to be routed straight to the division.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum from the Chief of the Physics and Electronics Division, Office of Scientific Intelligence, responds to a 27 May 1953 assignment to maintain current knowledge of UFO sighting reports. After consulting USAF personnel and members of the Scientific Review Board convened by CIA the previous year, the division cites the Board's finding of no serious, direct threat to national security. It declares the project inactive, with incoming material reviewed periodically and filed, handled by a part-time analyst and file clerk.
This is a letter from John S. Warner, Legislative Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency, to Representative Gordon H. Scherer. It answers his 24 August letter, which forwarded correspondence from Mrs. Catherine Carter Golden of Cincinnati about unidentified flying objects and about photographs taken in Brazil and shown on the Dave Garroway show. Warner says a free-lance photographer took the photograph and developed it with no one else present. He adds that the Air Force has primary responsibility for UFO investigations and that the Agency has no further information.
This Central Intelligence Agency report (No. 00-W-27452), distributed 18 August 1953, compiles translated newspaper items from Athens, Brazzaville and Tehran published March to May 1953. German engineer Georg Klein claims the Germans planned flying saucers from 1941, flew one at Prague in February 1945, and that the Soviets seized plans and personnel at Breslau. It also reports four discs seen over Bocaranga, Ubangi-Shari in November 1952, saucers over Homs, Syria, and a luminous object over Abadan, Iran.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 3 July 1953, went from the Chief of the Physics and Electronics Division, SI, to the Assistant Director, SI. It reviews the division's new responsibility for keeping current on unidentified flying object reports. The memo cites the Scientific Review Board's finding that the material posed no serious, direct threat to national security. It declares the project inactive, directs that reports be filed for future reference, and assigns a part-time analyst and file clerk to review them periodically.
This CIA foreign documents report, distributed 20 August 1953, gives the full text of a Stockholm Morgon-Tidningen article from 13 July 1953. It says Danish defense authorities take flying saucers seriously. A Danish Air Force Command report based on radar observations suggests the objects could come from a Soviet base on Novaya Zemlya. The report cites a 12 November 1952 sighting by Karup Airfield personnel and Norwegian sightings at Horten and near Bodø.
This Central Intelligence Agency foreign press report, distributed 18 August 1953, collects unevaluated newspaper items published in Athens, Brazzaville and Tehran between March and May 1953. It relays German engineer Georg Klein's claim that wartime German flying saucer designs and specialists were seized by the Soviets. It also reports four discs seen over Bocaranga, Ubangi-Shari, on 22 November 1952, flying saucers over Homs, Syria, and a luminous object over Abadan and Khuzistan, Iran, on 18 May 1953.
This Central Intelligence Agency release, dated 20 August 1953, gives the full text of a 13 July 1953 Morgon-Tidningen article reporting that Danish defense authorities took flying saucers seriously. According to the article, a Danish Air Force Command report based on radar observations was handed to the Defense Staff, and defense intelligence concluded the projectiles might come from a Soviet base on Novaya Zemlya. The report cites a Karup Airfield sighting of 12 November 1952 along with Norwegian incidents at Horten and near Bodø.
This undated CIA letter, filed under 24 August 1953, is from Legislative Counsel John S. Warner to Representative Gordon H. Scherer. It answers Scherer's forwarding of a letter about UFOs from Mrs. Catherine Carter Golden of Cincinnati, who had asked about Brazilian pictures shown on the Dave Garroway show. Warner says a free-lance photographer took the photograph and that, contrary to her information, no one else was present when it was developed. He adds that the Air Force has primary responsibility for UFO investigations and that the Agency has no further information.
This declassified quarterly report covers July 1 to September 30, 1953. It comes from the NIMH Addiction Research Center at the PHS Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, and was signed by Director of Research Harris Isbell. It describes clinical, biochemical, neurophysiological and psychological studies of addiction, including trials of codeine substitutes, morphine and Nalline mixtures, meperidine addiction, and chronic LSD-25 intoxication, which produced rapid tolerance. It also lists the unit's publications, lectures and film showings. It does not discuss UFOs.
This Central Intelligence Agency Office of Scientific Intelligence memorandum, dated 8 December 1953, reports a consultant's review of Donald Keyhoe's book "Flying Saucers from Outer Space" for possible security violations about CIA's role in flying saucer investigations. The consultant calls the book distorted and full of half-truths, notes CIA appears only on page 242, and says the CIA panel never recommended hiding information from the public. The memo finds no security breach and recommends no further action.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum dated 3 November 1953 was signed by P. G. Strong and filed under the subject "Flying Saucers." It says overall substantive responsibility for the subject has been given to the Physics and Electronics Division, which also holds action responsibility within that division. It tells the Operations Staff to coordinate any matter on the project with a named colonel or, in his absence, a named deputy. The text also carries a distribution list.
This CIA memorandum from the Chief of the Physics and Electronics Division to the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence reviews the status of the agency's UFO project in late 1953. It says Air Force interest in the subject is declining, and that ATIC is transferring Project Bluebook to Air Defense Command. It also covers a flawed camera program for recording sightings, the minimal attention given by the Navy and Army, and the drop in 1953 sightings, which it attributes to the January 1953 panel recommendations.
This is an Office Memorandum dated 8 December 1953 from the Chief, Operations Staff, O/SI, to the CIA's Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence. It reports a consultant's review of Keyhoe's book "Flying Saucers from Outer Space", which was checked for security breaches about CIA's part in flying saucer investigations. The consultant found the book distorted. The CIA mentions, on page 242, were judged not to reveal the O/SI panel. The memo concludes that no security breach occurred and recommends no further action.
This Central Intelligence Agency document titled Flying Objects is dated 16 December 1953. The extracted text is mostly garbled and made up largely of number sequences. The readable part is a routing note saying that overall substantive responsibility for the subject has been assigned to a division described as covering electronics. It says the operations staff must coordinate any effort with an assigned officer. No sighting or conclusion can be read from the text.
This December 17, 1953 Central Intelligence Agency memorandum was written by the Chief of the Physics and Electronics Division, Office of Scientific Intelligence, for the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence. It reviews the status of the agency's UFOB project, which was limited to tracking other agencies and keeping files. It describes the Air Force's shrinking Project Bluebook, its planned move to Air Defense Command, a camera program and the Project STORK statistical study. It also notes minimal Navy and Army interest and the results of the January 1953 panel recommendations.
This is a Secret History Staff monograph by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach of the Central Intelligence Agency, published in 1992. It gives a history of the CIA's manned overhead reconnaissance program from 1954 to 1974, covering the development and operation of the U-2 and the A-12 OXCART aircraft. It covers overflights of the Soviet Union, the 1960 downing of Francis Gary Powers, and later operations. One section is titled "U-2s, UFOs, and Operation BLUE BOOK."
This Central Intelligence Agency report (No. 00-W-29151) is dated 1954 and was distributed on 11 January 1954. It compiles Greek and French newspaper items published between July and November 1953 about unidentified aircraft. They include luminous circular and spherical objects seen in Spain, among them one over San Martin Valdeiglesias, and a luminous, rocket-shaped object that hovered over Drama, Greece, on 11 August 1953. Shepherds near Oued Zem, French Morocco, also reported a multicolored fast-flying object. The information is marked unevaluated.
This Central Intelligence Agency release is filed as a note from Strong to Page about the Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, and it is nearly illegible. The readable part is a letter from CIA Legislative Counsel John S. Warner to Representative Gordon H. Scherer. It answers a constituent's question about a UFO photograph taken in Brazil, says the Air Force has primary responsibility for UFO investigations, and says the Agency has no further information. The rest of the text is garbled OCR that mentions Dr. Robertson.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum to the Director of Central Intelligence, dated 6 January 1954, reports on a trip taken between 7 and 18 December 1953 to investigate a producer of a sensitive material, whose name is redacted. Company officials denied holding a 10 kilogram stock and said they had made about 40 grams in total, 10 of which went to the U.S. The company will keep a small stock for free distribution and will keep the agency informed of future production.
This Central Intelligence Agency compilation dated 11 January 1954 gathers foreign press reports of unidentified flying objects from 1953. A Greek paper cited Madrid reports of a luminous circular object and a spherical object seen near San Martin Valdeiglesias, Spain. Another reported a luminous, rocket-shaped object hovering for 3 minutes over Drama, Greece, on 11 August 1953. A third described shepherds near Oued Zem, French Morocco, seeing a multicolored fast-moving object after a thunderous noise on 2 September 1953.
This is a Central Intelligence Agency report (No. 00-W-29903), distributed on 20 April 1954, that compiles unevaluated foreign newspaper accounts published between November 1953 and January 1954. It covers sightings of unidentified flying objects in Pakistan, South Africa, Dahomey, France, Sweden, Denmark and West Germany. Among them are objects seen over Peshawar, a light that seemed to follow a motorist near Brandvlei, a reported landing at Marignane airfield, and a large 9 January meteor that Lund Observatory's Bertil Lindblad confirmed.
This Central Intelligence Agency report (No. 00-W-29745), distributed in April 1954, translates three Dagens Nyheter articles from 18 to 20 December 1953. It covers a sighting on 17 December 1953 by Transair pilot Ulf Christiernsson and flight mechanic Olle Johansson, who saw a round metallic object near Hässleholm, Skaane, while flying a DC-3. Swedish Defense and Air Staff experts suggested a daylight meteor or a balloon. Later reports favored perfume advertising balloons released that day near Hässleholm.
This Central Intelligence Agency foreign-documents report, distributed 1 April 1954, translates three Dagens Nyheter articles from 18 to 20 December 1953. They describe how Transair pilot Ulf Christiernsson and flight mechanic Olle Johansson, flying a DC-3 over Hässleholm in Skaane on 17 December 1953, saw a metallic, circular object moving at about the speed of sound. Swedish experts suggested a daylight Geminid meteor or a balloon. A Malmö perfume firm later said the object was one of its advertising balloons.
This Central Intelligence Agency report, No. 00-W-30339, was distributed on 26 May 1954. It collects unevaluated foreign newspaper accounts published between 10 December 1953 and 2 March 1954 of unidentified flying objects seen outside the Soviet orbit. Sightings include a fireball seen by a Sabena pilot near Brussels, a fiery disk at Arras, and a red ball at Gemeaux. Others describe disks and a cigar-shaped object over Algeria and a metallic disk above Montevideo. French astronomers attributed the Dieppe explosion to a large meteorite.
This Central Intelligence Agency report, distributed 27 May 1954, collects unevaluated foreign press items published between December 1953 and January 1954 about "flying saucer" theories and experiments. It summarizes a French Air Force periodical article arguing that interstellar ships powered by cosmic energy are possible. It also relays engineer George Klein's account of German saucer construction from 1941 to 1945, including designs by Miethe, Habermohl and Schreiver. Finally, it reports that a Genoa patent office granted Scipione Mattolin a patent for a flying disk.
This Central Intelligence Agency report (No. 00-W-29903), distributed on 20 April 1954, compiles unevaluated foreign newspaper accounts published between November 1953 and January 1954. It covers sightings over Peshawar, a motorist followed by a light in South Africa, and a luminous object at Djougou in Dahomey. French reports include a landing at Marignane airfield and an explosion over Dieppe. It also covers meteors over Denmark and Sweden, which astronomer Bertil Lindblad explained, and a fiery object over Bad Oldesloe.
This undated memorandum from the CIA's Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence to the Director of Central Intelligence comments on report 00-B-90229 about a sighting of an unconventional aircraft. The memo says distance and lighting made identification very difficult and that the description partly fits a vertical take-off aircraft or a rocket launched from a zero-length rail. It concludes that the object was probably not a flying saucer. It also notes that in 1954 a USAF advisory committee recommended against supporting project "Y".
This CIA Office of Scientific Intelligence memorandum for the record is dated 15 June 1954. It answers a 20 May 1954 request on how to divide intelligence responsibilities for non-conventional air vehicles like the saucer-like planes then being developed by Canadian, British and USAF organizations. ASD/SI is to identify, assess and report any foreign use of such vehicles. PSE/SI keeps the OSI project and central file on unidentified flying objects and shares relevant material. The memo concludes that no special action is needed at this time.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum for the record from Herbert Scoville, Jr., Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, sets out which offices handle non-conventional types of air vehicles. It rescinds an earlier memorandum on the same subject dated 14 June 1954. It makes ASD responsible for all surveillance of available information on the subject, with the other OSI divisions providing technical consultation. ASD will also keep the OSI files, so the other divisions must forward their files to ASD and stop filing on the subject.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 4 May 1954, is from the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, H. Marshall Chadwell, to Walter Pforzheimer of the Office of General Counsel. It attaches a suggested draft reply to Senator Johnson's letter of 19 April 1954 about a constituent's inquiry on flying saucers. The draft says most reported sightings have been explained as natural phenomena and the rest lack scientific detail. It advises the Senator to answer without citing the Agency and to refer further questions to the Air Force.
This Central Intelligence Agency report, No. OO-W-30339, was distributed on 26 May 1954. It compiles unevaluated foreign newspaper items published between 10 December 1953 and 2 March 1954 about unidentified flying objects seen outside the Soviet orbit. It covers a fireball seen by a Sabena pilot near Brussels, sightings at Arras and Gemeaux in France, and French astronomers' view that the Dieppe explosion was a large meteorite. It also covers luminous disks and a cigar-shaped object over Algeria and a metallic disk over Montevideo beaches.
This Central Intelligence Agency compilation, dated 27 May 1954, collects foreign press items on flying saucer theories and experiments. It reports a French Air Force periodical article arguing that supersonic interstellar ships powered by cosmic energy are possible. It also relays German engineer George Klein's claims about German saucer construction from 1941 to 1945, including designs by Miethe, Habermohl and Schreiver. It notes an Italian patent for a flying disk that the Genoa patent office granted to Sciipione Mattolin.
This Central Intelligence Agency report, 00-W-30797, was distributed 30 July 1954 and compiles unevaluated foreign newspaper accounts of unidentified flying objects published between 19 January and 15 May 1954. It covers sightings in France near Saint Mexant and Sare, in Sweden's Norrbotten Province and at Kautokeino in northern Norway, and over Saint Arnaud, Setif and Ouled Djellal in Algeria. It also includes reports from Worcester in South Africa and from Port Swettenham and Cheras in British Malaya.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum for the record, dated June 1954, sets out how the Office of Scientific Intelligence divided intelligence responsibilities for non-conventional air vehicles like those being developed by Canadian, British and USAF organizations. ASD/SI was made responsible for identifying, assessing and reporting any foreign power's use of such vehicles. P&E/SI kept the OSI project and central file on unidentified flying objects and was to share relevant material. The memo is signed by Sidney N. Graybeal and others.
This is a Central Intelligence Agency Memorandum for the Record dated 14 June 1954 and signed by Herbert Scoville, Jr., Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence. It covers office responsibilities for non-conventional types of air vehicles and rescinds an earlier memorandum on the same subject. ASD is to handle all surveillance of available information on the topic and keep the OSI files. Other divisions must send their files to ASD, stop filing on the subject, and give ASD technical advice when asked.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum to the Director of Central Intelligence, from Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence Herbert Scoville Jr., comments on report 00-B-90229 about a sighting of an unconventional aircraft. It says the distance and lighting made identification very hard and that the description partly fits a vertical take-off aircraft or a rocket launched from a zero length rail. It concludes the object was probably not a flying saucer. It also notes that a 1954 Air Force scientific committee recommended against supporting project "Y".
This Central Intelligence Agency report, No. 00-W-30883, was distributed on 25 August 1954. It is an unevaluated compilation of foreign press items published between 7 May and 20 June 1954 about unidentified flying objects. The report covers sightings in northern Norrbotten, Sweden, and a plan to excavate a metallic object buried in a field near Spjellerup, Denmark. It also includes a craft seen over the Taurus Mountains from Mersin, Turkey, and glowing disks near Frankfurt and Düsseldorf airport in West Germany.
This Central Intelligence Agency report, distributed on 30 July 1954, compiles unevaluated foreign newspaper accounts of unidentified flying object sightings published between 19 January and 15 May 1954. It covers reports from France, Sweden, Norway, Algeria, the Union of South Africa and British Malaya. Among them are a cigar-shaped object near the Pyrenees, three rotating objects in V-formation seen over Kautokeino by Sheriff Oskal and his deputies, and cigar-shaped objects over Swettenham. The report gives no conclusions.
This Central Intelligence Agency report, No. 00-W-30956, was distributed on 22 September 1954. It is unevaluated information drawn from Finnish, Norwegian and Austrian newspapers published between 10 June and 15 July 1954. It covers objects photographed in Helsinki and Maarianhamina during and after the 30 June eclipse, and an oblong object seen at Pulkkila on 14 July. It also covers color film of two shining disks shot from an airplane over Norway, and a gleaming red object seen over the Tennen Mountains near Hallein, Austria.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 1954, reports on a meeting of the Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel held in September at the Naval Research Laboratory, Anacostia. The panel, chaired by James A. Van Allen, discussed high altitude and satellite vehicles and the International Geophysical Year. It covers rockets such as the Viking and Aerobee, a phased plan for artificial satellites, and funding from the National Science Foundation. The author also records a conversation with Van Allen about the instrumentation needed for high altitude rockets. The memo contains no UFO material.
This Central Intelligence Agency information report, distributed 25 August 1954, compiles foreign newspaper items published between 7 May and 20 June 1954 about unidentified flying objects. It covers sightings in northern Norrbotten, Sweden, among them a silvery object with a fiery tail, and a plan to dig up a metallic object buried in a field near Spjellerup, Denmark. It also reports a craft over the Taurus Mountains near Mersin, Turkey, and glowing disks near Frankfurt and at Duesseldorf airport in West Germany.
This Central Intelligence Agency document, estimated to date from September 1954, is a medical report by a redacted author on ARTICHOKE team interrogations. It describes examinations of subjects in late August, in which injected solutions were used to induce detachment and fantasy states so that case officers could question them. The report judges the subjects probably truthful and questions one subject's value for legal proceedings. It concludes that ARTICHOKE techniques are a valuable support weapon.
This Central Intelligence Agency information report, distributed 25 October 1954, compiles unevaluated foreign newspaper accounts published between 5 July and 2 September 1954 describing unidentified flying object sightings. It covers an object that 50 soldiers watched during antiaircraft exercises at Stavern, Norway, and saucer reports from West Berlin, Darmstadt, Schleswig, Rastatt, Switzerland, Montlucon, Vernon and Lyon. It also covers a luminous globe seen over Laketi in the Middle Congo and six objects seen over Enkeldoorn in Southern Rhodesia.