4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron

From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏢 Organization

Contents 5
4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron
Illustration of official papers and files
Illustration: official papers and files. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.
TypeOrganization
Also known as4602d AISS, 4602d
On the Timeline2 events, 1953–1954

The 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron (4602d AISS) was a U.S. Air Force intelligence unit of the Air Defense Command, created in January 1953, which from 1954 carried out field investigations of UFO reports in the United States on behalf of Project Blue Book.[1][2]

Origins

The 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio received its first C-17 Globemaster III Jan. 21,2010. The aircraft is on loan from…
The 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio received its first C-17 Globemaster III Jan. 21,2010. The aircraft is on loan from… Photo: United States Air Force · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Project Blue Book was run by the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Its chief, Captain Edward Ruppelt, suggested that the 4602d, an Air Defense Command unit, should take on field investigations. The squadron was created in January 1953, about two weeks before the CIA-sponsored Robertson Panel met to review the UFO problem.[2][3]

UFO investigations

Illustration of an open book about flying saucers
Illustration: an open book about flying saucers. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

Under Air Force Regulation 200-2, issued on 12 August 1954, the 4602d was brought in to help the Air Technical Intelligence Center with preliminary and field investigations, and the Air Defense Command became responsible for investigating sightings inside the United States. The squadron's operations officer evaluated reports and supervised its investigators, whose findings were passed to Blue Book. Air Force histories from 1954 to 1956 contain statistics on the squadron's UFO work.[1][4]

Later changes

Illustration of a military base at night
Illustration: a military base at night. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

A February 1958 revision of the regulation returned responsibility for investigating sightings to local base commanders, with Blue Book keeping the job of analysis and evaluation.[5]

On the UAP Timeline

Illustration of wreckage at a crash site
Illustration: wreckage at a crash site. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

References

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.

Discuss the article: missing sources, mistakes, or what should be added.

No discussion yet.

BrowseFeedArticlesTimelineOfficial filesMapTonight’s SkyStatsFavorites