Project Blue Book

Project Blue Book

Type	Program or study
Also known as	Blue Book
On the Timeline	49 events, 1950–2021

Project Blue Book was the U.S. Air Force's official study of unidentified flying objects from March 1952 until it closed at the end of 1969. Based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, it had two stated goals: to decide whether UFOs threatened national security, and to analyse UFO data scientifically. Over its life it collected 12,618 reports, of which 701 remained unidentified.^[1][2]

Predecessors

Blue Book followed two earlier Air Force projects. Project Sign began after Gen. Nathan Twining's 1947 memo calling the flying discs "real", and some of its staff reportedly concluded that UFOs might be interplanetary. It was replaced by Project Grudge, which took a dismissive line; Capt. Edward Ruppelt later called the Grudge period the "dark ages" of the Air Force investigation.^[1]

Leadership

• Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt (1952–1953) reorganised Grudge into Blue Book in March 1952, introduced a standard witness questionnaire and popularised the term "unidentified flying object". By the time he left in August 1953, his staff had shrunk to two.^[1][5]
• Capt. Charles Hardin (from March 1954) led the project while most significant investigations were carried out by the 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron.^[1]
• Capt. George T. Gregory (from 1956) pushed a firmer debunking approach.^[1]
• Lt. Col. Robert J. Friend (from 1958) tried to improve the files and statistics but lacked funding.^[1]
• Maj. Hector Quintanilla (from August 1963) led the project during its most criticised years, until closure.^[1]

Astronomer J. Allen Hynek served as scientific consultant throughout, from the Sign and Grudge years to the end. He began as a skeptic, became increasingly uncertain, and later criticised the project, reportedly calling it "The Society for the Explanation of the Uninvestigated".^[1]

The 1952 wave and the Robertson Panel

Blue Book's busiest year was 1952, which culminated in July with radar and visual sightings over Washington, D.C. The wave alarmed the CIA, which convened a panel of scientists chaired by physicist H.P. Robertson, first meeting on 14 January 1953. Ruppelt and Hynek presented evidence. The panel concluded that most reports had ordinary explanations, recommended a public education campaign to reduce interest in UFOs, and suggested monitoring civilian UFO groups. Many historians believe these recommendations shaped Air Force policy for years.^[1]

Air Force Regulation 200-2

In 1953 the Air Force issued regulations under which base officers could discuss only solved cases publicly, while unsolved cases were classified. A revised AFR 200-2 in August 1954 defined "UFOBs" and told staff to describe unexplained cases to the media only as "being analyzed". The proportion of cases listed as unidentified fell from around 20–30 percent in the early years to under 1 percent by late 1956.^[1]

Special Report No. 14

From 1952 the Battelle Memorial Institute, under a contract code-named Project Stork, coded about 3,200 reports onto punched cards for statistical study. Its Special Report No. 14, completed in 1954, found about 69 percent of cases explained, 9 percent with too little information and about 22 percent unknown. Notably, unknowns were more common among the highest-quality reports (35 percent of "excellent" cases against 18 percent of "poor" ones). Battelle's summary nonetheless called it highly improbable that the unknowns represented advanced technology, and when the report was released in October 1955 the Air Force said only 3 percent were unknown — a discrepancy critics have highlighted.^[1]

1966 hearing and the Condon Committee

Sightings in 1965–66, including the Michigan cases Hynek suggested might be "swamp gas", led to a House Armed Services Committee hearing on 5 April 1966. Air Force Secretary Harold Brown testified that Blue Book had explained about 95 percent of cases, none of them extraterrestrial or a threat. Hynek proposed that a civilian scientific panel examine whether a real problem existed.^[1] The Air Force then funded a study at the University of Colorado led by physicist Edward Condon, whose 1968 report concluded that further study was unlikely to advance science, although some cases remained unexplained.^[1][3]

Closure

On 17 December 1969, Air Force Secretary Robert Seamans announced that Blue Book would close, saying further funding could not be justified. Researcher Brad Sparks has argued that the project actually continued until 30 January 1970. A memo by Brig. Gen. Carroll Bolender noted that reports affecting national security would be handled through other channels. The records went first to the Air Force archives at Maxwell Air Force Base and later to the National Archives, where they are available to researchers.^[1][4]

Assessment and legacy

The Air Force's position is that Blue Book found no threat to national security, no technology beyond known science, and no evidence of extraterrestrial vehicles.^[2] Critics including NICAP and Hynek argued that it was understaffed, focused on explaining reports away, and sometimes misleading; skeptics such as Robert Sheaffer reply that it explained the great majority of reports and that the unknowns reflect missing information rather than anomalies.^[1] The National Reconnaissance Office and the CIA later linked some reports to secret U-2 and A-12 spy-plane flights. A History Channel drama, Project Blue Book, aired in 2019–2020.^[1]

On the UAP Timeline

• Holloman cigar-shaped object film (1950) (July 1950) — A Holloman AFB contractor films a cigar-shaped metallic object and hands the film to the base.
• Proposal to collect UFO home movies (1950) (6 July 1950) — An Air Force officer wants to quietly collect UAP home movies from the public with FBI help.
• Dewey Fournet's motion study and Navy inquiry (1951) — A Blue Book officer reportedly runs a private, Navy-assisted inquiry into undersea and aerial UAP.
• Wright-Patterson guard and the tarp-covered craft (1952) (1952) — A former guard is said to have seen a tarp-covered craft taken into a secure area at Wright-Patterson.
• Submarine encounters study (1952) (24 April 1952) — Air Force and Navy intelligence study nine undersea UAP encounters reported by U.S. submarines.
• Ruppelt held back before the Robertson Panel (9 December 1952) — An Air Force colonel stops Blue Book's Edward Ruppelt from sharing strong cases with the CIA before the Robertson Panel.
• Pentacle memo (9 January 1953) — A Battelle scientist suggests using Project Stork to reassure the public that everything is under control.
• Robertson Panel (18 January 1953) — The CIA's Robertson Panel recommends stripping UAP of special status and reducing public interest.
• Air Force Regulation 200-2 (26 August 1953) — Air Force Regulation 200-2 tightens UAP reporting and routes key reports away from Project Blue Book.
• Lockheed–Kelly Johnson sighting (1953) (18 December 1953) — Lockheed test crew members flying a Navy aircraft follow a flying saucer over the Pacific.
• Mrs. G and the Wright-Patterson catalogue (1955) — A Wright-Patterson worker reportedly said she catalogued about 1,000 incoming UAP items.
• Blue Book Special Report No. 14 (5 May 1955) — Blue Book Special Report No. 14 analyzes 3,200 sightings and finds no proof of advanced craft.
• Afghanistan saucer reports (1956) (24 January 1956) — Wright-Patterson monitors a reported saucer landing in Afghanistan and plans an overflight.
• Ruppelt's account of the Estimate of the Situation (February 1956) — Edward Ruppelt writes he once saw a top-secret 'Estimate of the Situation' on UAP.
• John Moss and Special Report 14 (1956) (5 July 1956) — Rep. John Moss asks why the unclassified Blue Book Special Report 14 isn't public.
• White Sands landing reports (1956) (September 1956) — Unconfirmed reports describe a domed disc landing in front of personnel at White Sands.
• Hunter AFB "UFO crash" letter (1958) (30 October 1958) — An Air Force colonel writes about a 'UFO crash' near Hunter AFB, Georgia.
• French scientist Mr. L at Wright-Patterson (1959) — A French scientist claims he was asked to work at Wright-Patterson on recovered material.
• Ben Guerir guards' sighting (1960) (1960) — An airman in Morocco says glowing UAP prompted jet fighters to scramble.
• Ekuk, Alaska sighting (1960) (19 May 1960) — Alaska residents report a silver object hovering and dragging trash cans; the Air Force investigates.
• Air Force proposals to improve UFO work (1961) (17 March 1961) — Asked how to improve UAP work, the Air Force suggests a raise for adviser J. Allen Hynek and a new camera.
• Gun-camera films sent to the CIA claim (1962) — Researcher Richard Hall says jet gun-camera UAP films were routinely sent to the CIA.
• Holloman landing and hangar claim (1964) (30 April 1964) — A claimed UFO under guard at Holloman AFB; the same day a pilot reports an egg-shaped object.
• Martin Marietta engineer's papers (1965) (17 May 1965) — Jacques Vallée says a Martin Marietta engineer was upset when his papers were seen.
• F.E. Warren missile site sightings (1965) (31 July 1965-2 August 1965) — An Air Force memo logs 148 objects reported by 143 personnel at F.E. Warren missile sites.
• China Lake surveyors' sighting (1966) (18 January 1966) — Two surveyors at China Lake see a UAP pass low overhead and maneuver.
• Gerald Ford's call for UFO hearings (3 April 1966) — Rep. Gerald Ford is told an upcoming UAP study won't be tied to the Air Force.
• House Armed Services Committee UFO hearing (1966) (5 April 1966) — The Blue Book chief tells Congress there are no unexplained radar cases, contradicted by records.
• Request for Vallée's best cases (1966) (23 July 1966) — Vallée receives a request from engineers to send their best cases to unnamed Wright Field scientists.
• Condon Report (15 November 1968) — The Air Force-funded Condon Report concludes that UAP study has added nothing to science.
• Hynek's The UFO Experience (May 1972) — Blue Book adviser J. Allen Hynek writes that Blue Book was a cover-up and the problem was glossed over.
• Puthoff's report of a new secret study (1972) (7 October 1972) — Hal Puthoff tells Vallée a former NSA colleague said a new secret UAP study was underway.
• Howell McConnell and post-Blue Book analysis (28 October 1972) — An NSA official tells Vallée a Wright-Patterson office kept secretly analyzing UAP after Blue Book.
• Twelve officials to study UFOs (1974) (2 June 1974) — Puthoff relays that 12 senior officials have decided to focus on UAP study.
• Army missile exercise phenomena (1973–74) (17 July 1974) — An Army spokesman says unexplained aerial phenomena were seen during missile exercises.
• Transfer of the Blue Book files (1975) (April 1975) — Blue Book files are withdrawn from public access; some papers are allegedly destroyed or redacted.
• Daniel Sheehan and the Blue Book photos (1977) — Attorney Daniel Sheehan says he was shown classified Blue Book material at the Library of Congress.
• Hynek on the Robertson Panel's legacy (1979) — Hynek says the Robertson Panel set an unwritten Air Force rule to play UAP down.
• Bill English and Grudge/Blue Book Report 13 (January 1989) — Bill English claims he saw a memo saying Blue Book officials knew of crash recoveries.
• Dan Morris testimony (30 August 1996) — Air Force Sgt. Dan Morris says he was part of a group gathering UAP information.
• Michael Smith's NORAD reporting account (30 August 1996) — An Air Force radar controller says UAP events were only to be reported to NORAD.
• CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (3 August 1997) — A CIA history by Gerald Haines covers the agency's role in UAP study from 1947 to 1990.
• Privatized control group claim (1999) (7 July 1999) — An alleged CIA source says the UFO control group became privately funded after 1969.
• Proposal for a new Project Blue Book (2000) (24 January 2000) — Bigelow tells Vallée of an idea to push Congress for a new Project Blue Book.
• Howard Cross's own sighting (17 December 2001) — A researcher finds a Blue Book file showing a Battelle scientist reported his own sighting.
• Socorro rock analysis (3 May 2003) — Kit Green says rock from the 1964 Socorro landing was analyzed at NASA Goddard.
• Project Grudge data and the artifact file (23 January 2009) — A BAASS team member is said to be retrieving old Project Grudge data from Area 51.
• Bob Fish email on a Blue Book veteran (6 March 2015) — The same contractor tells Podesta about a Blue Book veteran he met.
• Daniel Sheehan on post-war control of UAP information (October 2021) — Elizondo's lawyer Daniel Sheehan describes how UAP information has been controlled since WWII.

References