Daniel Sheehan and the Blue Book photos
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 4
| Date | 1977 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Crashes & retrievals (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic) |
| People | Daniel Sheehan, Marcia Smith, Jimmy Carter |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 81 |
| Year | 1977 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1977 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 5 |
Daniel Sheehan and the Blue Book photos — Attorney Daniel Sheehan says he was shown classified Blue Book material at the Library of Congress.
Daniel Sheehan is a constitutional lawyer known for high-profile cases including the Pentagon Papers, the Karen Silkwood case and the Iran-Contra lawsuit. He has said that in May 1977, Marcia Smith of the Congressional Research Service, who was preparing a report on UFOs and extraterrestrial life for Congress, asked him to help. He said that through her he was allowed to view classified Project Blue Book material in a secure room at the Library of Congress's Madison Building.
Sheehan says that among the files he saw photographs of a crashed disc-shaped craft in snow, with markings on it, and that he traced the symbols onto a legal pad before his notes were taken from him. The episode is often linked to reports that President Carter's staff were interested in UFO information in 1977.
Marcia Smith's work for the CRS is documented, and she did produce UFO-related reports at the time. Sheehan's account of seeing classified material, first told publicly around 2001, hasn't been independently confirmed. Sheehan has since become an active voice in UAP disclosure efforts, including the 2023 UAP Disclosure Act debate.
People and topics
- Daniel Sheehan — Constitutional lawyer who said he saw classified Blue Book photos and later represented Luis Elizondo.
- Project Blue Book — The Air Force's public UFO investigation from 1952 until its closure in December 1969.
- Marcia Smith — Congressional Research Service analyst who prepared UFO reports in the 1970s.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Jimmy Carter — 39th U.S. president, who reported a UFO sighting and asked NASA about UFO research.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
- UAP Disclosure Act — A 2023 Senate proposal by Chuck Schumer and Mike Rounds to release UAP records.
On the Timeline
- Sgt. M.S. and the Wright-Patterson general (1977) — An Air Force sergeant says a general at Wright-Patterson told him about recovered material.
- Mario Woods incident at Ellsworth AFB (1977) (November 1977) — An Ellsworth AFB security airman says a UAP answered his spotlight signals.
See every 1977 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Marcia S. Smith (Congressional Research Service) publications · onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu · archived copy
- Carter-era UFO request documents — Obscurantist · obscurantist.com · archived copy
- Daniel Sheehan's account of seeing classified Blue Book files · journalnews.com.ph · archived copy
- Daniel Sheehan on Project Blue Book, the CIA and Carter — podcast · spreaker.com · archived copy
- web.archive.org · web.archive.org · archived copy
Further reading
- Project Blue Book — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Project Blue Book records — National Archives · archives.gov · archived copy
- Project Blue Book files — The Black Vault · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- U.S. congressional hearings on UFOs — 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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