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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 56
This is a two-section unclassified Air Force message sent on 5 August 1965 by the 2854th Air Base Group at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, to Wright-Patterson AFB, USAF and other recipients under AFR 200-2. It reports four bluish-white objects that a control tower supervisor watched through binoculars for about 1.5 hours on 2 August 1965. The 746th squadron made radar contact with one object near Norman. The message notes many sightings across the Oklahoma City area and gives weather balloons and/or known aircraft as the preliminary cause.
This NICAP compilation holds twelve pages of FBI teletypes, airtels and memoranda from April and May 1964, exchanged between the Albuquerque office and the FBI Director. They cover the April 24, 1964 Socorro, New Mexico sighting, in which an oval object with a red insignia left four indentations and burned patches. A second report from La Madera involved a burning tank-shaped object. The FBI conducted no investigation of its own and kept liaison with the military, whose officers had no explanation for either incident.
This Defense Intelligence Agency info memo, dated 13 November 2009, went to the Director of Special Programs in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. It reviews Senator Harry Reid's request to set up a restricted special access program for the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Application Program contract, which Reid's letter calls AATIP. DIA found no adequate justification. The FY2009 deliverables were unclassified, and the reports held no information sensitive enough to need extra protection. DIA offered draft technical reports for review.
This undated Defense Intelligence Agency info memo to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics describes the Advanced Aerospace Threat and Identification Program. Senators Reid and Inouye started the program with a $10 million add in FY2008, and a $12 million add followed in FY2010. The contract went to Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, which produced 38 technical reports. DIA found no grounds to classify the program, judged the reports of limited value, and suggested moving the project to another agency.
This Defense Intelligence Agency info memo, dated 30 October 2009, reviews the first-year technical reports delivered under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications contract with Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS). It lists 26 reports delivered in FY 2009, on topics including antigravity, warp drives and invisibility cloaking, and quotes excerpts from independent and Sandia National Laboratories reviews, all of them positive. It adds that Congress will apparently fund option year one at $12 million.
This file, held in the National Security Agency's UFO releases, is a magazine article titled "U.F.O. Files: The Untold Story" by Patrick Huyghe, a freelance writer in New York. The article argues that declassified CIA, FBI, Air Force and other agency documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show extensive government concern about UFOs despite official denials. It covers the 1975 base overflights, projects Sign and Grudge, the Condon study, CIA interest in NICAP, and the Ground Saucer Watch lawsuit against the CIA.
This U.S. Air Force compilation, released by the U.S. Department of War, holds numbered checklists and survey sheets for flying object incidents 1 through 100. It covers sightings by officers, test pilots and civilians at Muroc Army Air Field on 7 and 8 July 1947, and sightings by Portland, Oregon police on 4 July 1947. It also includes fireballs seen over California, Nevada and Oregon on 30 December 1947, a Houston fireball, and Finnish reports from January 1948.
This declassified U.S. Air Force compilation of unidentified flying object incidents 101 to 172 contains check-list reports from 1948 and 1945. Incident 101 covers the 18 February 1948 sky explosion over Norcatur, Kansas, with letters from Norman G. Markham suggesting a lunar spacecraft, Dr. Lincoln LaPaz's reply judging it a genuine meteorite fall, and witness statements. The final incident, 172, records George F. Gorman's 27 minute F-51 pursuit of a white light over Fargo on 1 October 1948, corroborated by tower controllers and Dr. Cannon.
This undated excerpt, filed by the National Security Agency, reproduces pages from a May-June 1981 magazine article arguing that the federal government has misinformed the public about UFOs as a national security threat. It cites DIA, State Department, CIA, FBI and Air Force documents on sightings near military installations, the September 1976 Iranian F-4 encounter, and November 1978 Kuwaiti oil field incidents. It quotes a 1968 NSA report, UFO Hypothesis and Survival Question, and includes Richard Hall's piece on CIA UFO files.
This draft monograph from the National Security Agency, classified SECRET and undated, looks at what the main hypotheses about UFOs would mean for human survival. It argues that UFOs are unlikely to be all hoaxes or all hallucinations. It warns that natural phenomena could trigger false missile attack reports and that secret earth projects or extraterrestrial intelligence could pose threats. It urges an urgent survival-minded investigation rather than a leisurely scientific approach.
This Ministry of Defence table lists the UFO reports it received in 2002 from across the United Kingdom. Each entry gives the date, time, town or village, county, the reporter's occupation where known, and a short description of the sighting. The reports describe lights, triangles, discs, cigar shapes and spheres. One Hull sighting in October was made by two police officers, and several reports on 19 December describe a flaming object that the table notes could have been a satellite re-entering.
This Ministry of Defence document is a table of UFO sighting reports received during 2007. Each entry lists the date, time, town or village, county and a short description of what was seen. Most describe orange or bright lights, glowing balls, triangles or discs over towns across England, Scotland and Wales. It also records a 23 April 2007 report from two pilots flying near Alderney, a claimed abduction of a dog, car and tent near Cardiff, and messages left on an answerphone.
This Ministry of Defence document is a table of UFO sighting reports it received during 2008. Each entry gives the date, time, town or village and area, with a short description of what was seen. Most describe orange or bright lights, orbs, triangles, discs and formations of lights across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. A later section lists reports that have no firm date, noting when each message was taken. The document gives no analysis or conclusions.
This CIA file holds a UPI newspaper clipping, marked Daily News and dated November 4, 1966, from Parkersburg, West Virginia. It reports that salesman Woodrow Derenberger held a press conference, with police and an Air Force representative listening, about meeting a "spaceman" on Interstate 77 while he was driving home from Marietta, Ohio. Derenberger said a dark, long object blocked the highway and a man stepped out of it. He said the man spoke with him for 5 to 10 minutes by telepathy and told him to have no fear.
This briefing guide, written by Dr David Clarke of Sheffield Hallam University for The National Archives in March 2008 and revised through June 2012, explains the British government's involvement with UFOs from 1909 onward. It covers phantom airships, foo fighters, ghost rockets, the 1950 Flying Saucer Working Party, Air Ministry and MoD investigations, and the 1979 House of Lords debate. It also lists key National Archives file references, including the Rendlesham Forest papers, and notes that MoD found no evidence of extraterrestrial origin.
This National Archives press release announces the release of 25 Ministry of Defence UFO files containing over 6,700 pages that document the work of the MoD's UFO Desk, which closed in November 2009. The files include a job description for the Desk Officer, a 1995 intelligence briefing on possible alien motives, a 1979 briefing questioning alien visits, and a briefing on UFO policy for Tony Blair's office. They also include individual reports such as a Spalding 'men in black' visit and a sighting at Chelsea Football Club.
This highlights guide from The National Archives describes the tenth and final release of Ministry of Defence UFO files: 25 files with 4,400 pages covering the MoD UFO desk from late 2007 to its closure in November 2009. It explains how to use the PDF bookmarks and summarises key stories. These include the briefing that recommended closing the desk, a public disclosure campaign, a sharp rise in sightings linked to Chinese lanterns, and reports sorted by location.
This UK Ministry of Defence document is a table of UFO reports it received in 2007. Each entry gives the date, time, town or village, county and a short description of the sighting. Most describe orange, red or white lights, formations and spheres seen across England, Scotland and Wales. Some entries have no firm date and record only when the message was taken. Among them is an entry for 23 April 2007, in which two pilots in different planes near Alderney saw two identical bright orange and yellow objects.
This research guide from The National Archives was written by Dr David Clarke in March 2008 and revised in August 2008. It traces British government interest in UFOs from the phantom airships of 1909 through the 1951 Flying Saucer Working Party, Air Ministry and MoD investigations, and the 1979 House of Lords debate. It notes that official bodies found most sightings had ordinary explanations. It also lists key National Archives file references, including papers on the Rendlesham Forest incident.
This file, held under a National Aeronautics and Space Administration title, contains an English translation of the 1999 COMETA report "UFOs and Defense: What Should We Prepare For?", produced by a French association of former IHEDN auditors and first published in a special issue of VSD. It opens with a 2001 letter from Carol Rosin arranging a meeting. The report covers pilot testimonies, close encounters in France, GEPAN/SEPRA research and defense implications. Attached material includes a Leslie Kean article, a NARCAP description and a news item about a UFO at Barnaul airport.
This undated National Security Agency paper, released by the NSA in 2017 under a Mandatory Declassification Review, argues that people's reactions to UFO sightings expose an intelligence community weakness: analysts cannot process surprising or deceptive data objectively. Citing Dr. Jacques Vallee, it describes how the mind reacts with shock and imaginative distortion as observations grow stranger. It recommends selecting and training analysts for special surprise alert teams. An appendix lists historical military defeats blamed on blindness to surprise.
This is Government Attic's posting of a 1969 Library of Congress annotated bibliography, UFOs and Related Subjects, compiled by Lynn E. Catoe for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The Defense Technical Information Center released it under FOIA in November 2014. The bibliography lists more than 1,600 items and was requested to support the University of Colorado UFO study led by Edward U. Condon. Its preface concludes that no simple, single explanation of the UFO phenomenon applies to all cases.
This Black Vault copy of "U.F.O. Files: The Untold Story," an article by freelance writer Patrick Huyghe that was held by the NSA, reviews U.S. government UFO records released under the Freedom of Information Act. It quotes a 1975 Defense Department message about unknown objects over Loring, Wurtsmith and Malmstrom bases. It also traces Projects Sign and Grudge, the 1952 Washington radar sightings, the Robertson Panel's debunking program, CIA interest in NICAP and the Condon study. It argues that federal agencies still monitor the phenomenon.
This is a technical report by Thomas E. Bearden, a research scientist with an MS in nuclear engineering, dated January 3, 1977. Bearden submitted it to the Defense Documentation Center under a cover letter and it is approved for public release. The report divides the evolution of life into seven stages and argues that humanity must avoid self-destruction by technologically linking all human brains into a single superbeing. It claims UFO phenomena are consistent with a sixth-stage superbeing preparing humanity for that linkage.
This declassified 1949 Army General Staff file collects Plans and Operations Division routing sheets and memoranda about flying saucers. On 24 February 1949, prompted by radios from Kirtland AFB, P&O asked the Intelligence Division for an evaluation. The ID study found about 20 percent of some 210 incidents explained, mostly as weather balloons. It found no evidence of foreign activity and said the rest were probably natural phenomena. In April the ID said it could not verify Walter Winchell's broadcast claim that the saucers were Russian guided missiles.
This page from IUR (International UFO Reporter) presents a Pentagon teletype message, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by researcher Charles Huffer, about a UFO sighting over Tehran on 19 September 1976. The message says two Iranian F-4 jets lost instrumentation, communications and weapons control while intercepting a brilliant object, and a smaller object seemed to land. IUR notes that the report went to the CIA, White House and military chiefs as routine Middle East traffic. A short item on a 1977 Guatemala City videotape follows.
This is a history of the USAF Office of Special Investigations covering 19 July 1948 to 30 June 1950, prepared for the Inspector General on 22 November 1950 and released with redactions by AFOSI under FOIA in December 2010. It describes how OSI was set up under Brigadier General Joseph F. Carroll to bring the Air Force's criminal, counterintelligence and procurement fraud investigations under one command. It also covers the 25 district offices, the headquarters divisions and the investigative procedures. The text does not discuss UFOs.
This Black Vault release reproduces US Air Force official photographs from File 8766, covering the April 24, 1964 event at Socorro, New Mexico. The extracted text contains only cover sheets for two photo sets, one listing 16 photos and the other 22 photos, plus a standard Black Vault notice crediting John Greenewald, Jr. The text contains no captions, findings or conclusions.
This is a copy of the US Air Force aircraft accident and missing aircraft report on F-89C 51-5853A, released through Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue. The aircraft was scrambled from Kinross AFB, Michigan on 23 November 1953 to intercept an unknown aircraft over Lake Superior. It disappeared after its radar return merged with the target, which the report identifies as an RCAF Dakota. The file includes weather data, maintenance records, the RCAF search report and a 1954 reopened search, and says no trace was found.
This is a confidential letter the Commandant of the Fifth Naval District in Norfolk, Virginia sent on 13 December 1948, filed with Office, Chief Army Field Forces records. It quotes a 4 November 1948 directive from the Chief of Naval Operations. According to the directive, the Air Force Director of Intelligence expected a new cycle of "Flying Disc" sightings. It orders all stations to report sightings of discs or other unidentified aerial objects to the nearest Air Force command and to Naval District Intelligence, and to get photographs whenever possible.
This 22 November 1989 report on the Soviet press describes a surge of UFO coverage in newspapers and journals across the USSR in 1989. It says a permanent center for UFO study opened in Moscow. The reports it summarizes cover the Hill 611 crash at Dalnegorsk, an aircrew encounter over Borisov, a landing claimed in Voronezh park, and a mass sighting in Omsk. It also sets out the arguments between skeptics and enthusiasts, including a comparison of Dalnegorsk with Roswell.
This 22 November 1989 media survey, titled USSR: Media Report Multitude of UFO Sightings, reviews Soviet newspaper and journal coverage of UFO reports during 1989. It covers the Dalnegorsk Hill 611 crash debris studies, landings reported at Voronezh, Surgut and Perm Oblast, an aircraft encounter over Borisov, and an Omsk sighting described by Maj V. Loginov. It also notes that a permanent UFO study center opened in Moscow and sets out skeptics' explanations, including rocket launches, ball lightning and mass hysteria.
This synthesis note from SEPRA, the CNES service that succeeded GEPAN, describes the luminous phenomenon seen over much of France around 19h on 5 November 1990 and how the service handled it. It counts 1,108 testimonies, among them 233 gendarmerie reports, and analyses the reported times, durations, shapes and pilot accounts. A NASA telex identified the object as the re-entering third stage of the Soviet rocket that launched Gorizont 21. The note concludes that France needs better space detection and faster exchange of information.
This Defense Intelligence Agency release gathers Army and Air Force intelligence reports on unidentified flying objects from several countries. It contains translated Finnish Border Guard reports of glowing spheres and lights seen near the Soviet border, a Costa Rica sighting near Puntarenas, and Afghan news items from 1959 on bright objects over Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul. Other reports describe objects over Kuldja in Sinkiang, China. A 1969 OSI report from Nakhon Phanom, Thailand concludes that a pilot's ground sighting was probably a religious procession carrying ceremonial drums.
This National Archives research guide on Unidentified Flying Objects was written by Dr David Clarke of Sheffield Hallam University in March 2008 and revised in 2010 and 2011. It traces British official interest in UFOs from the phantom airships of 1909 and 1913, through the 1950 Flying Saucer Working Party, to Air Ministry and MoD investigations. It also points readers to key record series, including Freedom of Information releases and the Rendlesham Forest files. The guide notes that most reports had ordinary explanations.
USAF Fact Sheet 95-03, current as of June 1995, describes the Air Force's Project Blue Book, which investigated UFOs from 1947 until its termination on Dec. 17, 1969. Of 12,618 sightings reported, 701 remained unidentified. It states that no UFO threatened national security or showed evidence of advanced technology or extraterrestrial vehicles. It adds that the records were transferred to the National Archives and that the Air Force was unlikely to resume UFO investigations.
The United States Africa Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of two seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2025. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation. Video Description: 00:00-00:02: A small, barely distinguishable area of contrast moves from the left side of the sensor field-of-view to the right side, exiting the scene from the bottom right quarter of the screen. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance. The video is looped for viewing purposes.
The Department of the Army submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and 49 seconds of video from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2026. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation. Video Description: 00:00-00:08: The sensor tracks an initial area of interest. 00:09-00:16: The sensor disengages from its previous area of focus and pans from right to left to track two areas of contrast, narrowing the field-of-view to zoom in while panning to maintain the objects' positions generally within the center of the frame. 00:17-01:03: The sensor widens its field-of-view to zoom out, keeping the areas of contrast generally centered within the display. 01:04-01:08: The sensor field-of-view rapidly cycles between levels of zoom, causing the areas of contrast to appear to rapidly increase and decrease in size. 01:09-01:48: The sensor tracks the areas of contrast while maintaining a generally centered position, intermittently cycling between contrast settings. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and five seconds of video footage captured via multiple sensor modalities aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D7, described the UAP as “diamond-shaped” and moving at approximately 434 knots. The observer also reported that the UAP was only detectable via short-wave infrared (SWIR) sensor. Video Description: The screen is split into two viewing areas for the first ten seconds of the video, with the right side displaying electro-optical footage and the left side displaying SWIR footage. 00:04: An area of contrast becomes distinguishable against the background in the center of the right frame. 00:10: The display shifts to a full-screen view of the SWIR feed to better focus on the area of contrast. 00:55: The area of contrast remains generally within the center of the sensor field-of-view. The area of contrast visually resembles an inverted teardrop with a vertically linear trailing mass suspended below. 00:56: The operator switches the sensor modality to visible spectrum, losing the subject against the background. 00:57-01:05: The operator switches the sensor modality to SWIR (Black-Hot) but does not reacquire the area of contrast. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of two minutes and 57 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2023. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D33, described the UAP as flying near the surface of the ocean and making multiple “90-degree turns” at approximately 80 miles per hour. Video Description: 00:04: An area of contrast enters the sensor field-of-view from the bottom left quarter of the screen. 00:07-00:19: The area of contrast moves back and forth horizontally across the field-of-view as the sensor pans to track it. 00:20-01:00: The area of contrast remains generally centered within the sensor field-of-view. 01:00-02:01: The sensor designates the area of contrast with a blue reticle, synchronizing its motion with the area of contrast’s relative position. 02:02-02:21: The sensor engages a contrast filter to better differentiate the area of contrast from the background. 02:22: The area of contrast becomes indistinguishable against the background, and the reticle drops its lock. 02:27-02:57: After losing lock, the sensor rapidly cycles zoom levels and contrast thresholds. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 24 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2023. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D35, described the UAP as small and circular, flying near the surface of the ocean toward land. Video Description: 00:02: The sensor narrows its field-of-view to zoom in on an area of contrast near the center of the screen. 00:03-00:19: The sensor tracks the area of contrast as it moves against the ocean background. 00:20: As the background scene transitions from being predominantly water to land, the area of contrast becomes indistinguishable. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.
The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and 59 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2023. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation. Video Description: 00:00-01:59: The sensor tracks three distinct areas of contrast, maintaining their positions generally within the center of the frame. The areas of contrast appear to maintain a fixed position and orientation relative to one another. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.
The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of nine seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation. Video Description: 00:00-00:09: The sensor focuses on an area of contrast that resembles a football-shaped body with three radial projections: one oriented vertically, and two oriented downward at a 45-degree angle relative to the major axis of the main mass. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.
The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and 39 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation. Video Description: 00:00-01:39: The sensor tracks an area of contrast, maintaining its position generally within the center of the frame. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of ten seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2022. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D18, described the UAP as "flying west to east." Video Description: The video depicts an area of contrast moving from the bottom left to the top right of the sensor field-of-view. At approximately six seconds, the area of contrast leaves the sensor field-of-view near the top right corner of the frame. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of ten seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2022. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D14, described the UAP as a “probable SU-27/35." Video Description: The video depicts two areas of contrast moving together near the center of the field-of-view throughout the runtime. This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance. AARO Comment: SU-27 and SU-35 are designations for military aircraft operated by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.