Office of Naval Research

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Office of Naval Research

Office of Naval Research (ONR) — Office of Naval Research (ONR) Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Type	Organization
Also known as	ONR
On the Timeline	3 events, 1951–2012

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is the U.S. Navy's science and technology research funding agency, established in 1946. It funds research at universities, Navy labs and companies in fields from oceanography to physics.

UFO connection

191031-N-PO203-0176 HONOLULU, Hawaii (Oct. 31, 2019) Layvon Washington, right, contract support for the Office of Naval Research, discusses paid… — 191031-N-PO203-0176 HONOLULU, Hawaii (Oct. 31, 2019) Layvon Washington, right, contract support for the Office of Naval Research, discusses paid… Photo: U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

In the early 1950s, ONR sponsored the Skyhook program of large high-altitude research balloons. ONR physicist Urner Liddel said in 1951 that Skyhook balloons explained many flying saucer reports. Navy scientist Charles Moore, who launched ONR-funded balloons, reported his own unexplained sighting at White Sands in 1949. ONR has also been named in some claims about advanced physics research.

On the UAP Timeline

Kenneth Arnold: 1947 June 26 Chicago Sun article "Supersonic Flying Saucers Sighted by Idaho Pilot". Perhaps first-use of term "flying saucer" in headline from… — Kenneth Arnold: 1947 June 26 Chicago Sun article "Supersonic Flying Saucers Sighted by Idaho Pilot". Perhaps first-use of term "flying saucer" in headline from… Photo: UPI · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Urner Liddel's Skyhook balloon explanation (27 February 1951) — A Navy physicist publicly says all UAP reports are mirages or balloons.
Varo edition of The Case for the UFO (April 1956) — Navy researchers receive an annotated copy of Morris Jessup's UFO book with strange handwritten notes.
ONR intuition and sensemaking research (2012) — The Office of Naval Research studies 'sixth sense' and intuitive decision-making.

Connected articles

References

Office of Naval Research — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy

Categories: Organization | Unidentified anomalous phenomena | Unidentified flying object | Urner liddel | Us navy

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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