Unidentified flying object

Unidentified flying object

Type	Term
Also known as	UFO, UFOs, flying saucer, flying saucers
On the Timeline	360 events, 1947–2023

An unidentified flying object (UFO) is anything seen in the sky that the observer can't identify. The term was coined by the U.S. Air Force in the early 1950s, partly to replace "flying saucer", the popular phrase that followed pilot Kenneth Arnold's sighting of nine fast objects near Mount Rainier in June 1947. In everyday use, "UFO" has come to mean a possible alien spacecraft, although officially it only ever meant "not yet identified".

Official study

From 1947 to 1969 the Air Force ran a series of investigations: Project Sign, Project Grudge and Project Blue Book. Blue Book collected about 12,600 reports and left 701 officially unexplained. The CIA's 1953 Robertson Panel recommended reducing public interest in the subject, and the University of Colorado's Condon Report of 1968 concluded that further study was unlikely to advance science, which led to Blue Book's closure.

Since 2017

Interest revived in December 2017, when The New York Times revealed the Pentagon's AATIP effort and published Navy infrared videos of unexplained objects. The U.S. government now prefers the term unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), partly to avoid the stigma of "UFO", and in 2022 created AARO to investigate reports.

Explanations

Most sightings turn out to be aircraft, balloons, satellites, planets, birds, drones or optical effects. A small share remain unexplained after investigation, and these are the focus of continued debate between those who suspect advanced technology, whether human or non-human, and those who think better data would explain them too.

On the UAP Timeline

• Walter Haut sealed affidavit (8 July 1947) — Roswell press officer Walter Haut's affidavit says his commander told him the base had recovered crash debris from a disc.
• Art McQuiddy and the Roswell press release (8 July 1947) — Roswell newspaper editor Art McQuiddy says the base announced a recovered disc, then asked him to call it a weather balloon.
• Thomas DuBose affidavit on the Roswell debris (8 July 1947) — Col. Thomas DuBose's affidavit says the Roswell debris went via Fort Worth to Wright Field and the balloon photos were a cover story.
• Garrett's suspicion of secret U.S. tests (1947) (19 August 1947) — An Air Force officer tells the FBI he suspects secret U.S. military tests explain some flying disc reports.
• War Department denial of a U.S. disc program (1947) (19 August 1947) — The War Department says it knows of no U.S. program that could explain the flying discs.
• Hillenkoetter MJ-12 memo of 19 September 1947 (19 September 1947) — A disputed memo attributed to CIA Director Hillenkoetter calls for a presidential directive and scientific study of the discs.
• 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.
• 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.
• Pretty memo on the Horten brothers (1947) (16 December 1947) — A U.S. Army officer reports locating the German Horten brothers, designers of flying-wing aircraft.
• Truman's oral UFO briefings (1948) — President Truman reportedly asks for spoken-only quarterly briefings on UAP research, with no records kept.
• Research and Development Board dismisses the discs (1948) (31 January 1948) — A Pentagon research board publicly dismisses flying saucers as mirages and mass self-hypnosis.
• Alleged CIA report on recovered disc technology (1949) (17 August 1949) — An alleged CIA report names a secret Defense Department program for exploiting recovered disc technology.
• 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.
• Henry J. Taylor secret-weapon broadcast (1950) (27 March 1950) — A broadcaster announces saucers are secret U.S. weapons; the story is later called CIA disinformation.
• RAND memorandum RM-365 (14 April 1950) — An Air Force-funded RAND paper studies using superstition and the paranormal for psychological warfare.
• 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.
• Urner Liddel's Skyhook balloon explanation (27 February 1951) — A Navy physicist publicly says all UAP reports are mirages or balloons.
• MJ-12 Fifth Annual Report (1952) — A disputed, possibly hoaxed 'Majic' report describes the 1947 recovery of craft and five bodies.
• 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.
• CIA–MIT talks on UFO study (1952) (2 December 1952) — A CIA science chief meets MIT leaders about studying UAP through Project Lincoln.
• 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.
• Toronto dematerialization claim (1953) (1953) — An RAF instructor claims he saw a successful 'dematerialization' experiment in Toronto.
• Fort Polk crash claim (1953) (1953) — An Army source says he saw an egg-shaped craft crash-land at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
• 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.
• Albert Chop and the Tremonton film release (9 February 1953) — Air Force spokesman Albert Chop claims the CIA killed a press release and ordered a debunking campaign.
• CIA memo on Civilian Saucer Investigation (9 February 1953) — A CIA officer admits monitoring a public UAP meeting in Los Angeles.
• Kingman UFO crash (21 May 1953) — An engineer using the pseudonym Fritz Werner swears he investigated a crashed craft near Kingman, Arizona.
• 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.
• SOM1-01 Special Operations Manual (1954) — Engineer Bob Wood reportedly suspects the 'SOM1-01' manual was created as Cold War disinformation.
• JANAP 146(C) (10 March 1954) — Directive JANAP 146(C) covers UAP reports and bars civilian pilots from discussing them.
• Roswell-area helicopter crash claim (1954) (12 April 1954) — An Air Force helicopter trainee says he was sent to a desert crash near Roswell in 1954.
• Navy FLYOBRPT reporting instruction (1954) (23 July 1954) — A new Navy directive orders UAP sighting reports sent to several intelligence commands.
• 4602d AISS crashed-object claim (1954) (14 October 1954) — A Marine aviator says he was told an Air Force intelligence squadron ran a crashed-object program.
• NSC 5412 Special Group (28 December 1954) — A secret National Security Council group is formed to coordinate covert operations.
• Project Silver Bug and the Avrocar (1955) — The Air Force acknowledges a contract with Avro Canada, later known as the flying-saucer project Silverbug.
• Louis Witten and the Martin gravity institute (1955) — Physicist Louis Witten says he was recruited into a Glenn L. Martin institute studying gravity.
• Douglas Aircraft unconventional propulsion study (1955) — An aerospace executive claims he worked in a UAP group at Douglas Aircraft from 1955.
• 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.
• Bernard Schriever and Wright Field technical intelligence (1956) — Gen. Bernard Schriever's testimony describes close work with technical intelligence at Wright Field.
• 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.
• 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.
• Air Force Manual 190-4 (1 May 1956) — A former Air Force spokesman says a manual governed all official statements about UFOs.
• 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.
• Navy pilots' shoot-down orders claim (1956) (5 July 1956) — Unnamed Navy pilots claim standing orders to shoot down hostile UAP over the Pacific.
• White Sands landing reports (1956) (September 1956) — Unconfirmed reports describe a domed disc landing in front of personnel at White Sands.
• NICAP fed a fake crash story (1957) (May 1957) — Civilian group NICAP is fed a fake UAP crash story by a source with NSA ties.
• Hill AFB landing claim (1958) (1958) — An anonymous military source claims a UAP deliberately landed at Hill AFB.
• Rudolf Lusar and the Nazi disc claims (1958) — An Air Force intelligence group analyzes a German author's claims about Nazi flying discs.
• McClellan subcommittee persuaded against hearings (1958) (28 February 1958) — An Air Force general says informal talks persuaded Senate investigators no UAP hearings were needed.
• Henderson UFO briefing (1958) (20 June 1958) — The Air Force briefs members of Congress on handling constituent questions about UAP.
• McCormack subcommittee UFO briefing (1958) (13 August 1958) — The Air Force tells a House committee civilian UAP groups are its biggest UAP-related challenge.
• Hunter AFB "UFO crash" letter (1958) (30 October 1958) — An Air Force colonel writes about a 'UFO crash' near Hunter AFB, Georgia.
• Airline pilots and the "Big Brother" gag rules (1958) (21 December 1958) — About 50 airline pilots criticize the Air Force's UAP gag rules as 'Big Brother'.
• Ben Guerir guards' sighting (1960) (1960) — An airman in Morocco says glowing UAP prompted jet fighters to scramble.

…and 300 more.

References