Air Force Office of Special Investigations
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏢 Organization
Contents 4
| Type | Organization |
|---|---|
| Also known as | AFOSI, OSI |
| On the Timeline | 16 events, 1949–2022 |
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI or AFOSI) is the U.S. Air Force's federal law-enforcement and counterintelligence agency. It appears in several UFO stories, most notably through former agent Richard Doty, the central figure of the documentary Mirage Men, and through its role in the FBI's investigation of the "Majestic 12" papers.[1][2][3]
History and role
OSI was established by an order of Air Force Chief of Staff Carl Spaatz dated 2 January 1948 and began operating on 1 August 1948. Its first commander, Joseph F. Carroll, was a senior FBI official and assistant to J. Edgar Hoover, and later became the first director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; the agency was modelled on the FBI. OSI reports directly to the Secretary of the Air Force and carries out criminal investigations, counterintelligence and protective operations worldwide. It has about 2,000 special agents and 1,000 other staff, and its headquarters are at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.[1]
UFO connections
Richard Doty, an OSI special agent stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico from 1979, became a central figure in UFO lore and appeared as himself in the 2013 documentary Mirage Men, which argues that U.S. intelligence deliberately spread UFO myths.[1][2]
In September 1988 an OSI special agent passed copies of the "Majestic 12" papers to the FBI's Dallas office. On 30 November 1988 OSI reported that no such committee had ever been authorised or formed, and the FBI declared the documents "completely bogus".[3]
On the UAP Timeline
- Hebgen Lake disc report (1949) (17 August 1949) — An Air Force base reports an informant's account of seven discs and two crashed ones; a lake search finds nothing.
- Hill AFB landing claim (1958) (1958) — An anonymous military source claims a UAP deliberately landed at Hill AFB.
- Wheless memo on UFO impostors (1967) (1 March 1967) — An Air Force memo warns of men in uniform telling UAP witnesses to stay silent.
- Doty's psychological operations claim (1980s) — Doty says an Air Force unit ran psychological operations on people who saw secret aircraft.
- Weitzel letter (1980) (July 1980) — Air Force counterintelligence officer Richard Doty delivers a forged letter to a civilian UAP group.
- Bennewitz affair (17 November 1980) — Doty gives physicist Paul Bennewitz a forged document to confuse him.
- Vallée on the disinformation campaign (1989) (17 September 1989) — Vallée writes there is a large disinformation campaign around UAP.
- Vallée meets D'Amato on secret programs (1992) (22 May 1992) — Vallée writes he met Senate counsel Dick D'Amato about secret programs.
- FBI MJ-12 espionage file (22 July 1993) — The FBI says it has a closed 'Majestic-12' file labelled espionage.
- Jim Westwood's MJ-12 disinformation theory (1 January 1999) — A former CIA consultant suggests the MJ-12 briefing document was a fake to fool the KGB.
- Westwood on MJ-12 disinformation (2001) (5 May 2001) — A consultant tells Vallée the MJ-12 documents are disinformation.
- Project Serpo (1 November 2005) — A message board host receives an alleged 3,000-page report on a famous case.
- Doty on Serpo believers (2020) (2 February 2020) — Richard Doty allegedly says some DIA members believe parts of the SERPO 'exchange' rumor.
- Doty worked for Puthoff (8 February 2020) — Puthoff says Richard Doty worked for him on a program before AATIP.
- Doty's five Area 51 projects claim (13 June 2022) — Richard Doty claims five UAP-related projects at Area 51.
- Mellon on the Majestic documents (September 2022) — Mellon says the 'Majestic' documents are very controversial.
References
- Air Force Office of Special Investigations — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Mirage Men — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Majestic 12 — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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