Crash retrieval
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏛️ Program or study
Contents 4
Crash retrieval
| Type | Program or study |
|---|---|
| Also known as | crash-retrieval, crash retrievals, crash recovery, crash recoveries |
| On the Timeline | 41 events, 1947–2021 |
Crash retrieval refers to the alleged recovery of crashed non-human craft and, in some accounts, their occupants, by the U.S. government or others. The idea took shape with the 1947 Roswell incident and Frank Scully's 1950 book about a crash near Aztec, New Mexico, which turned out to be based on a hoax.
The modern story
Researcher Leonard Stringfield revived the subject in 1978 with anonymous accounts from military personnel, and Roswell investigations in the 1980s and 1990s gathered many affidavits. In 2023, former intelligence officer David Grusch told Congress under oath that the U.S. has run a decades-long crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program, which he said was hidden from proper oversight.
Evidence
No crashed craft, bodies or documents have been publicly produced. AARO's 2024 historical report said it found no verifiable evidence of such programs, and attributed many stories to misidentified test programs, rumours and disinformation. Supporters argue that any program would be compartmented beyond AARO's reach.
On the UAP Timeline
- Twining memo (1947) (23 September 1947) — Gen. Nathan Twining writes that the flying discs are real and could be a secret U.S. or Soviet project.
- Hillenkoetter letter of 24 September 1947 (24 September 1947) — A letter attributed to the CIA director allegedly names Air Force and Navy intelligence units as leads on recovered objects.
- Selman Graves and the Paradise Valley crash claim (October 1947) — Pilot Selman Graves says he saw a crashed craft and two humanoid bodies recovered in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
- Laredo UFO crash claim (1948) (1948) — An anonymous retired colonel claims a craft crashed near Laredo, Texas, and witnesses were sworn to secrecy.
- White Sands blown-window crash claim (1948) (1948) — An anonymous source claims a disc crashed at White Sands with its occupants dead from a blown-out window.
- Bell Labs source on 1950 crash files (1950) — A Bell Labs source says a former NASA employee had technical files on a 1950 crash retrieval.
- MJ-12 Fifth Annual Report (1952) — A disputed, possibly hoaxed 'Majic' report describes the 1947 recovery of craft and five bodies.
- Air Force officer's crash-retrieval remark (1952) (1952) — A source says an Air Force officer told an aerospace meeting he had been at a crash retrieval scene.
- Fort Monmouth desert-disc film (1953) — A radar technician says he was shown a film of a silver disc embedded in the desert at Fort Monmouth.
- Fort Polk crash claim (1953) (1953) — An Army source says he saw an egg-shaped craft crash-land at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
- Mrs. G and the Wright-Patterson catalogue (1955) — A Wright-Patterson worker reportedly said she catalogued about 1,000 incoming UAP items.
- Bernard Schriever and Wright Field technical intelligence (1956) — Gen. Bernard Schriever's testimony describes close work with technical intelligence at Wright Field.
- French scientist Mr. L at Wright-Patterson (1959) — A French scientist claims he was asked to work at Wright-Patterson on recovered material.
- Yuma hangar photograph claim (1967) (1967) — A source says his brother photographed a saucer in a hangar in Yuma and then fled.
- Camp Pendleton Marine's crash-site claim (1967) (3 July 1967) — A Marine says he flew to a crash retrieval site in the desert in 1967.
- Torbitt Document (1970) — Author 'William Torbitt' claims a group ran counterintelligence for advanced aerospace programs.
- Great Lakes shoot-down claim (1973) (June 1973) — A Navy instructor claims a UAP was shot down by a missile and secretly moved by rail to Great Lakes.
- Unmarked helicopter claim (1975) (14 March 1975) — An Air Force officer says unmarked helicopters are sent to UAP-related sites.
- Charred body in Colorado claim (1978) (1978) — An Air Force technician says he saw a charred alien body at an underground site in Colorado.
- Ohio crash with survivor claim (1978) (1978) — An Air Force officer reportedly heard of a crash with two dead and one live occupant near Ohio.
- Three air bases claim (1978) (August 1978) — A source tells Leonard Stringfield that three air bases held alien craft or bodies.
- Sunnyvale hangar saucer claim (1979) — A Navy radar observer says he saw a large saucer in a hangar at Sunnyvale in 1950.
- Hampton Roads bodies claim (1979) (5 April 1979) — A source says 13 bodies and two saucers were stored at a base in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
- Hangar 18 (film) (July 1980) — The film Hangar 18 depicts a government cover-up of a crashed UAP.
- Kit Green's Air Force physician source (1982) — Kit Green says a retired Air Force physician told him crash recovery stories are true.
- Sarbacher letter (1983) (29 November 1983) — Physicist Robert Sarbacher writes that he heard of recovered UAP materials while consulting for the Pentagon.
- 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.
- Eric Walker and the Penn State alumnus (6 September 1990) — A Penn State alumnus says former university president Eric Walker attended secret UAP meetings.
- Uncle's 1946–47 project claim (12 April 1991) — A woman says her uncle worked on a 1946–47 government project linked to a crash.
- CSETI on unacknowledged special access programs (22 August 1998) — CSETI says a covert group using unacknowledged programs manages the UAP issue.
- Kit Green's three landings briefing claim (8 May 2000) — They also discuss Kit Green's claim of a briefing on three alien landings.
- Flickinger autopsy material claim (5 March 2002) — Kit Green says an Air Force physician told him he saw alien autopsy material.
- Will Miller's offer to Davis and Puthoff (25 April 2002) — A retired Navy commander offers his services researching crash retrievals.
- Jean Kisling's airline stranger (29 June 2002) — A French officer tells Vallée a stranger on a 1950s flight claimed to work on recovered craft.
- Chuck Wade's seven New Mexico crashes (26 March 2011) — A researcher presents claims from military sources about UAP crash recoveries.
- Oechsler on Navy EMP experiments (18 August 2014) — Bob Oechsler links Navy EMP experiments to UAP recoveries.
- DeLonge on hidden crashes (April 2016) — DeLonge says advisers told him of multiple crashes hidden by counterintelligence.
- Eric Davis on an existing crash-retrieval program (24 June 2018) — Eric Davis says a crash retrieval program still exists.
- Elizondo on shoot-downs and recoveries (2019) (15 March 2019) — Lue Elizondo is asked about shoot-downs and recoveries and doesn't answer directly.
- Greer's Elizondo vehicle story (19 May 2021) — Steven Greer says he heard Elizondo was in a facility holding an alien vehicle.
- Elizondo on rogue programs (2021) (2 September 2021) — Elizondo says he saw no UAP programs in secret program oversight; any would be rogue.
Connected articles
References
- UFO conspiracy theories — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- AARO — official site · aaro.mil · archived copy
Categories: Leonard stringfield | Program | Unidentified anomalous phenomena | Unidentified flying object | Us air force
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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