Research and Development Board dismisses the discs (1948)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 6
| Date | 31 January 1948 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Disinformation & hoaxes (topic) |
| People | Vannevar Bush, Nathan Twining |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 40 |
| Year | 1948 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1948 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 8 |
On 31 January 1948 newspapers carried a Washington story headlined "'Flying Discs' Book Declared Closed", reporting that military and government scientists had no positive explanation for the flying saucers of 1947 and did not intend to investigate further. It quoted experts of the Joint Research and Development Board, described as the government's top scientific body, dismissing the discs as "a mirage induced by mass self-hypnosis".[1]
The story
The report, printed for example in the East Oregonian of Pendleton, Oregon, said the Board's experts had informally advanced several ordinary explanations: optical illusions, natural electricity, the sun reflected in clouds, reflections from passing aircraft and flashes from the silver weather kites the Army Air Forces flew across the country. Army and Navy specialists on guided missiles, rockets and buzz bombs were also said to have closed their files. The same page carried a local report of a pencil-shaped object about 100 feet long seen near La Grande.[1]
Context
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The story followed a month of attention to the subject: on 7 January 1948 Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell had died chasing a suspected flying disc, and astronomers had been offering explanations in the press. The Research and Development Board had been chaired by Vannevar Bush, the wartime science chief, a fact later used by Majestic 12 enthusiasts, who list Bush as a member of their alleged secret committee.[1][2][3]
Behind closed doors
The public dismissal contrasts with what was happening privately. That same month, following General Nathan Twining's recommendation of September 1947, the Air Force quietly launched Project Sign at Wright Field to study the reports. Later that year Sign's staff drafted an "Estimate of the Situation" that reportedly favoured an interplanetary explanation before it was rejected by the Air Force chief of staff.[3][4]
People and topics
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- U.S. Navy — The U.S. naval service, whose pilots reported the UAP encounters revealed in 2017.
- Vannevar Bush — Wartime science leader named in the MJ-12 papers.
- MJ-12 — Disputed documents describing a secret committee managing crashed saucers.
- Nathan Twining — Commander of Air Materiel Command who wrote the 1947 memo calling the flying discs "something real".
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Project Sign — The Air Force's first formal UFO study (1948), whose staff reportedly favoured an interplanetary explanation.
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — The Ohio air base that housed Project Blue Book and is linked to the Hangar 18 legend.
- Estimate of the Situation — A 1948 Project Sign report said to have favoured an interplanetary explanation.
On the Timeline
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- Laredo UFO crash claim (1948) (1948) — An anonymous retired colonel claims a craft crashed near Laredo, Texas, and witnesses were sworn to secrecy.
- Truman's oral UFO briefings (1948) — President Truman reportedly asks for spoken-only quarterly briefings on UAP research, with no records kept.
See every 1948 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "'Flying discs' book declared closed", East Oregonian (31 Jan 1948), Project 1947 · project1947.com · archived copy
- Vannevar Bush — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Project Sign — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "The CIA's role in the study of UFOs", NICAP · nicap.org · archived copy
- 'Believing is seeing' still explains UFO sightings — Christian Science Monitor · csmonitor.com · archived copy
- 1948 UFO documents index — Project 1947 · mail.project1947.com · archived copy
- project1947.com · project1947.com · archived copy
- luforu.org · luforu.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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