Along with a short summary, the location and dates, the witness or witnesses name are given. This may surprize many readers, as these names have been censored from the files before they were archived and later available to the public under the FOIA.
Please read the reference information at the end of the page to learn how I found out the witness names. Please refer to my main page on Project Blue book for more information on this USAF project.
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The cases which I have further studied or documented are accompanied by links to the supplemental information. To keep the browsing time reasonably short, I have split the summaries in one file for every year, you need to click on the years underneath to read all the summaries: |
Choose: | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | |
| 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | |
| 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | |
| 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | |
| 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | |
Witnesses: Capt. G.P. Arns and Maj. R.J. Gedson flying a Beech AT-11 trainer.
One yellow-orange comet-shaped object pulsed flame for 1-2 seconds of a 1 minute straight and level flight.
Witness: Captain/B-29 navigator.
One bluish cylinder, three times long as wide, with a tail and rapid pulsations, came in high and fast, made several turns and leveled out under B-29 which was evading mild antiaircraft fire. 45 second sighting.
Witnesses: WWl/WW2 veteran A.D. Hutchinson and son.
One dull orange-yellow saucer-shaped light flew straight and level very fast for 30 seconds.
Witnesses: pilot and radar operator of F-94 jet interceptor.
On either occasion, a red fireball increased in brightness and then faded over 45 second span. Stationary both times. Note: Project Blue Book Status Report #7 (May 31, 1952) says target was also tracked by ground radar at 78 knots (90 m.p.h.) at 22,500' and 25,000' altitude.
Witnesses: B-29 navigator and radar operator.
One target tracked for 20-30 seconds at estimated 3,000 m.p.h.
Witness: Brigham, pilot of AT-6 trainer.
One small, very thin, shiny metallic disc flew alongside the AT-6, then made a pass at an F-84 jet fighter, flipped on edge, fluttered 20' from the F-84's fuselage and flipped in the slipstream... all in 10 seconds.
Witnesses: two radar operators of the 147th AC&W Squadron.
One object was tracked for one minute by radar at an estimated 2,160 m.p.h.
Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. L.G. Ryan, R.L. Stokes, D. Schook.
One large, dull grey circular object, followed by two more, flew straight and level at high speed.
Witnesses: L.E. VanDercar and 9 year old son.
Four dark circular objects with mostly fuzzy edges, crossed face of Moon, each was half the apparent diameter of Moon.
Witness: H.L. Russell.
50-75 grey-white discs changed position within formation continually, tilted in unison every 12-15 seconds during 3.8 minute sighting.
Witnesses: Royal Canadian Air Force Warrant Officer E.H. Rossell, Flight Sgt. R. McRae.
One round amber object flew fast, stopped, reversed direction, climbed away at 30' angle during a 2 minute observation.
Witness: unidentified CAL airline pilot.
Several light colored objects flew in V-formation. No further details in files.
Witnesses: U.S. Navy pilots Lt. jg. Blacky, Lt. jg.O'Neil.
One inverted bowl, 3' long and 1' high, with vertical slots, flew fast, straight and level, 100 yards from observers' aircraft for 45-60 seconds.
Witness: Mr. Hayes, brother of Master Sergeant.
Two faint objects observed flying fast along the horizon for 6-8 seconds, using 20x spotting telescope.
Witnesses: S.B. Brooks, chemical engineer J.A. Eaton.
One round, deep orange object flew fast and erratic, occasionally emitting a shaft of light to the rear during a 40 minute sighting.
Witnesses: group of Army weather observation students, including several graduate engineers.
One flat-white, circular object flew with an irregular trajectory and a brief trail, for about 7 seconds.
Witnesses: two Army weather observation students.
One flat-white circular object flew for 5-10 seconds in a very erratic manner.
Witnesses: R. Poerstal and three other men.
Seven to nine circular, orange-yellow lights in a 40 degrees V-formation flew overhead silently for 4-8 seconds, from south to north.
Witness: reporter Chic Shave.
One round, yellow-gold object flew south and returned during 1.5 minute sighting.
Witness: one radar operator.
Tracked unidentified target for 1 minute at 2,700 m.p.h.
Witness: janitor C. Hamilton.
One yellow-gold object made a sharp turn and left a short, dark trail during l minute sighting.
Witnesses: crew of B-29 bomber, on ground.
One elliptical object, followed by two and then another two, each with a white light that blinked every 1-2 seconds as they performed erratic maneuvers for 10 minutes.
Witnesses: crew of USAF C-124 transport plane.
Three circular, bluish objects in loose "fingertip" formation twice flew parallel to airplane during 3-4 minute period.
Witnesses: three Cambridge Research Center electronics engineers, one named Buruish.
Two flat, red squares flew wobbly in level flight, climbed, levelled out during 1.5 minute observation.
Witness: USAF light Surgeon Maj. E.L. Ellis.
Many orange-amber lights, sometimes separate, sometimes fused, behaved erratically. Speed varied from motionless to very fast during 5 minute sighting.
Witnesses: H.A. Freytag and three male relatives, including a minister.
One silver oval rolled, descended and stopped. Two silver cigar-shaped objects appeared, one departing to the east and one to the west. A third silver cigar-shaped object flew by at high speed. Sightings lasted 45 minutes.
Witnesses: M/Sgt. and Mrs. G.S. Porter (he was off-duty control tower operator).
Bright red or flame-colored discs, appearing as large as fighter planes. Seven sightings of one disc, one of two in formation during 2 hours. All seen below 11,000' overcast.
Witness: private pilot R.R. Weidman.
One round, white object, which flew straight, with a side-to-side oscillation for 1.5 minutes.
Witness: B-29 bombardier Lt. R.H. Bauer.
One white fan-shaped light pulsed 3-4 times per second for 2 seconds.
Witnesses: Two Atomic Energy Commission employees, Eggan and Shipley.
One silver object without wings flew straight and level for 1.5 minutes.
Witnesses: three men on the arms range, plus one Lt. Colonel 4 miles away.
Five flat-white discs about the diameter of a C-47's wingspan (95') flew fast, made a 90degrees turn in a formation of three in front and two behind, and darted around, for 15-30 seconds.
Witness: Mrs. M.M. Judson.
Six or seven translucent, cream-yellow objects. One moved in an ellipse, while the others moved in and out.
Witnesses: Capt. Morris, a Master Sergeant, a Staff Sergeant, and an Airman First Class.
Ten times, an aluminum or silver cylindrical object was seen to dart in and out of the clouds during a 5-10 minute period.
Witness: A/lc G.C. Grindeland.
One dull white, arrowhead-shaped object flew straight and level for 10 seconds.
Witnesses: 4 DuPont employees at the Savannah River nuclear plant.
Up to four yellow, disc-shaped objects were seen on five occasions between 10:45 and shortly after 11:15.
Witnesses: Attorney and ex-USAF pilot Mr. Stipes, Sr. Garcia-Mendez.
Two shining orange spheres: one was stationary, while the other darted away and back for 30 minutes.
Witnesses: USAF pilots Capt. J. Spurgin and Capt. B.B. Stephan.
One bright or white oval object moved from side-to-side while making a gradual turn for 90 seconds.
Witnesses: seven persons, including John Hoffman, his family and friends.
One large white circular object having dark sections on its rim, flew straight and level for 30 minutes, appearing red when behind a cloud.
Witnesses: many in crowd watching a ceremony.
One white-silver disc-shaped object flew straight and fast for 2 minutes.
Witnesses: two city fire department employees.
Two circular objects - one shiny silver and the other orange or light brown - were seen three times performing fast maneuvers.
Witness: USAF pilot Maj. D.W. Feuerstein, on ground.
One bright tubular object tilted from horizontal to vertical for 8 minutes, then slowly returned to horizontal, again tilted vertical, accelerated, appeared to lengthen and turned red. The entire sighting lasted 14 minutes.
Witnesses: A/1c Beatty and two civilians.
At least five long silver objects flew in a neat box formation with a leader for 15-20 seconds.
Witness: ex-military pilot Reserve Maj. W.C. Vollendorf.
One oval object with a "definite airfoil" performed a fast climb for 7 seconds.
Witness: Ray Lottman.
Three glimmering objects flew straight and level for 10 minutes.
Witness: Larry McWade.
One purple object seen for unknown length of time. No further information in files.
Witness: 1st Lt. John Hendry, photo-navigator on an RB-26C reconnaissance bomber.
One porcelain-white object flew very fast for an unknown length of time.
Witnesses: Dan Benson, Mr. Bacon.
A total of eight yellow circular objects, like large stars, were seen during 45 minutes. The first two were in a trail formation, the others were seen singly.
Witness: S/Sgt T.H. Shorey.
One shiny round object flew 5-6 times as fast as an F-86 jet fighter for 6 seconds.
Witnesses: 2nd Lt. W.R. Soper, a Strategic Air Command top secret control officer and former OSI agent, and two other persons.
One bright red object remained stationary for 4.5 minutes before speeding away with a short tail.
Case missing from official files.
Witnesses: crew of B-25 bomber #8840 at 11,500'.
One rectangular aluminum object, about 6'x4', flew 250-300' below the B-25.
Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Markland.
Four shiny objects flew straight and level in a diamond formation.
Case missing from official files.
Witnesses: U.S. Army Major and Lt. Colonel, using binoculars.
One orange ball with a tail flew with a low angular velocity.
Witness: T/Sgt. H.D. Adams, operating an SCR-584 radar set.
One unidentified blip tracked at 650 kts. (750 m.p.h.) at greater than 60,000' altitude.
Witness: R.S. Thomas, Olmstead AFB employee and former control tower operator.
One round, orange object traveled South, stopped for 1 second, turned east, stopped 1 second, and went down.
Witness: Edward Duke, ex-U.S. Navy radar technician.
One large, cigar-shaped object with a blunt front, lit sides and a red stern, maneuvered in a leisurely fashion for 15 minutes.
Witness: USAF maintenance specialist S/Sgt. Sparks.
Five or six greyish discs, in a half-moon formation, flew at 500-600 m.p.h. for 1 minute.
Witnesses: many and varied.
From one to five large silver-yellow objects flew erratically, stopped and started for about 15 minutes.
Witness: pilot of USAF F-94 jet interceptor.
A light like a bright star crossed the nose of the airplane while being observed for 15 seconds. No further information in the files.
Witness: R.A. Finger.
One crescent-shaped object hovered for several seconds and then sped away.
Witnesses: Marron Hoffman and four relatives, using 4x binoculars.
One orange light was observed zigzagging and then hovering for an unspecified length of time.
Witness: 2nd Lt. Agostino and unidentified radar operator.
One red light turned white while wobbling. Radar tracked a stationary target during the 1 minute sighting.
Witness: USAF pilot John Lane.
One round, white object flew straight and level for 10 seconds.
Witnesses: four Marine Corps Captains and pilots of F4U-4B Corsair fighter planes.
One 10-20' white or silver oval object made a left-hand orbit at terrific speed for 60 seconds.
Witness: T/Sgt. Howard Davis, flight engineer of B-29 bomber at 8,000' altitude.
One flat object with a sharply pointed front and rounded rear, white with a dark blue center and red rim, trailed sparks as it dove past the B-29 at a distance of 500', in l second.
Witnesses: Two Marine Corps Sergeants.
One 4 ft. diameter object dove at a runway shooting red flames, hovered briefly over a hill, turned 180, flashed twice and was gone.
Witness: Airport weather observer Rex Thompson.
One round disc with a metallic shine flashed, and fluttered like a flipped coin for 5-7 minutes.
Witness: 2nd Lt. K. Thompson.
One very large light flew straight and level for 10 minutes. No further information.
Case missing from official files.
Witness: secretary Martha Milligan.
One bullet-shaped object with burnt-orange exhaust flew straight and level for 30-60 seconds.
Witness: National Guard Lt. Col. O. L. Depp.
Two objects looking like "giant soap bubbles", reflecting yellow and lavender colors, flew in trail for 5 seconds.
Witness: USAF pilot of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Group.
One black coin-shaped object, 15-20' in diameter, made an irregular descent.
Witnesses: Mrs.Norbury, Mr. Matheis.
One bright yellow-white, egg-shaped object which sometimes had a red tail, made seven circles in 1 1/2 hours.
Case missing from official files.
Witness: USAF 2nd Lt. C. W. Povelites.
Undescribed object flew at 600 m.p.h. and then stopped. No further information in files.
Witness: assistant manager of airport.
Three sightings of flashing lights: two lights separated by 2 miles, with the leader flashing steadily and the other irregularly, two similarly flashing lights, but with l mile separation, finally a single light. Speed estimated at 150-250 m.p.h.. Total of 1/2 hour.
Witnesses: USAF pilot 2nd Lt. K. P. Kelly and wife.
One pulsating red object which changed shape from a circular to a vertical oval as it pulsed. Was stationary for about 5 minutes, then went out.
Witness: G. Metcalfe.
One silver-white sphere became an ellipse as it turned and climbed away very fast. 10 seconds.
Witness: Capt. T. W. Barger, USAF electronics countermeasures officer.
One dark blue elliptical-shaped object with a pulsing border flew straight and level at 700-800 m.p.h..
Witnesses: three USAF air policemen.
One bright silver, flat oval object surrounded by a blue haze, hovered, then moved very fast to the right and to the left, and up and down for 45 minutes.
Witnesses not identified.
Two big lights, estimated at 20' diameter, flew straight and level at tremendous speed.
Witness: Mrs. J. D. Arbuckle.
Two bright pastel green discs flew straight and level very fast for 6 seconds.
Witness: Oklahoma State Patrolman Hamilton in State Patrol airplane.
Three dark discs hovered and then flew away, silhouetted against a dark cloud. 15 seconds.
Witness: Charles Muhr.
Four pictures taken of some indistinct light which was admittedly not seen visually, but which appeared on the negatives.
Witness: USAF pilot Maj. C. K. Griffin.
One object shaped like an airfoil less its trailing edge, luminous white, moved slowly and erratically for 12 minutes.
Witness: farmer John Mittl.
One aluminum, oval-shaped object changed direction and attitude, finally tipping on end and departing after 20 seconds. Case file includes three vague photographs.
Witnesses: S/Sgt. D.P. Foster and three other persons.
Three times, a single white, disc-shaped object sped by, straight and level, in 5 seconds.
Witness: insurance company president William Washburn.
Four large, elliptical-shaped objects were seen to fly very fast, stop, turn 90° and fly away in 7-8 seconds.
Witnesses: many radar controllers who were military officers.
Several big blips tracked on radar at 1,500 kts. (1,700 m.p.h.). There was no visual sighting.
Witnesses: Pan American Airways First Officer William Nash, Second Officer William Fortenberry.
Eight large, round, glowing red objects maneuvered below their airliner, in formation.
My case file here.
Witnesses: J. Antoneff and two other persons.
One discus-shaped object, greyish, except when hovering, when it appeared muddy. Hovered over Palm Beach International Airport, then followed an SA-16 twin-engined amphibian and flew away after 40-60 seconds.
Witness: U.S. Coast Guard photographer Shell Alpert.
Four roughly elliptical blobs of light in formation photographed through window of photo lab.
More information on Case 1501 here, including photograph.
Witness: Mrs. Florence Daley.
Two round objects, bluish-white with brighter rims, flew in formation, making a sound like bombers, only softer. Note: Later, the witness stated she heard many feminine voices coming from the objects.
Witness: Air National Guard employees.
One light like a big star was seen for 3 hours, but disappeared when an aircraft approached. Also seen the night of July 20, 22 and 23.
Witnesses: T/Sgt. Mahone, A/3c Jennings.
One amber-colored, elliptical-shaped object with a small flame at the rear, periodically increased in brightness. It moved very fast for l 1/2 minutes, giving off a resonant beat sound.
Witnesses: E. R. Raymer and daughter.
One opaque, silvery bubble flew very fast at a right-angle to the wind direction for 10 seconds.
Witnesses: three USAF officers and four enlisted men.
Over an hour period, a series of hovering and maneuvering red-orange lights were observed moving in a variety of directions.
Witness: one experienced civilian pilot.
One elliptical-shaped object with a light fringe, traveled down fast, made a 360* and then a 180* turn in 5 minutes.
Witnesses: USAF pilot Capt. C.J. Powley and wife.
Two star-like lights maneuvered, hovered and sped for 5-7 minutes.
Witness: Seton Hall Univ. chemistry professor Dr. A.B. Spooner.
Two large orange-yellow lights with some dull red coloring flew in trail, turned and circled for 5-6 minutes.
Witnesses: USAF pilot Capt. E.E. Dougher, WAF Lt. J.J. Stong, situated miles apart.
Four bright yellowish lights were seen by Dougher to separate, with two climbing and two flying away level in the opposite direction. Stong watched two reddish lights fly in opposite directions. Sightings lasted about 10-15 minutes.
Witnesses: one Lieutenant, two Staff Sergeants, three airmen.
One blue circle with a blue trail was seen to hover and then accelerate to near-sonic speed (700+ m.p.h.) after 1 minute.
Witness: wife of USAF Capt. J. B. Neal.
One elongated, fuselage-shaped object flew straight and level, made a right-angle turn and went out of sight at more than 300 m.p.h., all in 3-5 seconds.
Witnesses: one military officer, two enlisted men.
One aluminum, delta-shaped object with a vertical fin, flew straight and level, and then hovered during a 3 minute sighting.
Witness: Mrs. A. Burgess.
One round, yellow, flashing light went downward. No further information in files.
Witnesses: control tower operator Don Weins, and two pilots for Carco.
Eight large, round, bright aluminum objects flew straight and level, then darted around erratically during 25 minutes.
Witness: Don Epperly, Trans Texas Airlines station manager and weather observer.
One large, round, silver object flew at more than 1,000 m.p.h. for 45 seconds, while gyrating.
Witnesses: pilot and radar operator of USAF F-94 jet interceptor.
One round blue light passed F-94, spinning.
Witnesses: crews of several USAF F-94 jet interceptors from Dover AFB, Del.
Thirteen visual sightings and one radar tracking of blue-white lights during two hours.
Witnesses: the two-man crews of three USAF F-94 jet interceptors.
One large silver object, shaped like a long pear with two or three squares beneath it, flew at 150-180 kts. (170-210 m.p.h.), while a smaller object, delta-shaped or swept back, flew around it at 1,000-1,500 kts. (1,150-1,700 m.p.h.). Seen by crews for 1-4 minutes.
Witnesses: two-man crews of two USAF F-94 jet interceptors at 35-46,000' altitude.
Three cylindrical objects in a vertical stack formation flew at an altitude of 50-80,000'. Seen for 20 minutes.
Witness: USAF pilot Capt. H. W. Kloth.
Two bright blue-white objects flew together, then the rear one veered off after about 9 minutes.
Witnesses: two USAF Lt. Colonels McGinn and Barton in a B-25 bomber.
Three silver, delta-shaped objects, each with a ridge along the top, crossed in front of and above the B-25 at high speed, in 3-4 seconds.
Witnesses: radar operators at several airports, airline pilots.
Many unidentified blips tracked by radar all over Washington area, at varying speeds. Pilots spotted unidentified lights.
Witnesses: USAF Capt. H. A. Stone, men in control towers at Fairfax Field and Municipal Airport.
One greenish light with red-orange flashes was seen for 1 hour as it descended in the northwest from 40* elevation to 10* elevation.
This was a continuation of the extensive sightings and radar tracking reports reported throughout the Washington, D.C. area, all night long.
Witness: Airman 1st Class J.M. Donaldson.
Eight to ten orange balls in a triangular or V-formation flew very fast for 3-4 seconds.
Case missing from official files.
Witnesses: three B-29 bomber crewmen on ground.
Many round, white objects flew straight and level, very fast. Two at 10:05, one at 10:10, one at 10:15, one at 10:20. Each was seen for about 30 seconds.
Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Ellis.
Two disc-shaped objects, illuminated by a phosphorus light, flew at an estimated l,000 m.p.h. for 15 seconds.
Witnesses: Sgt. B.C. Grassmoen, WAC Pfc. A.P. Turner.
One saucer-shaped object having an appearance of light metal and giving off shafts of white light, flew slow, made a 90 degrees turn and climbed away fast after 4-5 minutes.
Witness: Ground Control Approach radar operator M/Sgt. W.F. Dees, and persons in the base control tower.
Radar tracked a large cluster of very distinct blips. Visual observation was of oblong objects having neither wings nor tail, which made a very fast turn and at one time were in echelon formation. Entire episode lasted 55 minutes.
Witnesses: T/Sgt. Walstead, S/Sgt. Calkins of the 635th AC&W Squadron.
One dull, glowing, blue-green ball,.the size of a dime at arms' length, flew very fast, straight and level.
Witnesses: radar operators on ground, pilot of F-5l Mustang in flight.
Several clusters of up to 10 small radar targets and one large target. Small targets moved from southwest to east at 50-60 kts. (60-70 m.p.h.), following each other. The large one moved at 600 kts. (700 m.p.h.). One hour total time. Pilot confirmed one target.
Witness: USAF Capt D.G. Moore, of military air traffic control system.
One undescribed object flew at an estimated 2,600 m.p.h., below 5,000' altitude, toward the air base for about 2 minutes.
Witnesses: Mr. Moore, Gilfillan electronics representative W. Yhope.
One radar target tracked moving away, stopped for 2 minutes, again moved very, very fast. Four minutes.
Witnesses: Herbert Mitchell and one employee.
One dark, discus-shaped object, trailed by a silvery light 2 lengths behind, tipped on its side, dove, hesitated and then circled very fast during the 2 minute sighting.
Witnesses: USAF shop employees Douglas and Hess at Municipal Airport.
One bright white circular object with a flat bottom flew very fast, and then hovered 10-15 seconds over the Cessna Aircraft Co. plant, during the 5 minute sighting.
Witnesses: USAF persons, alerted that UFOs were coming from the direction of Seattle, Wash.
Two to five flat disc-shaped objects: one hovered 3-4 minutes, while the others circled it. Sighting length of 30 minutes not explained further.
Witness: USAF 1st Lt. George Funk.
One orange light remained stationary for 10 minutes. No further details in files.
Witnesses: E.E. Nye and one other person.
One round, white object flew slow and then sped away after 20-30 minutes.
Witnesses: sheriff's deputies and other persons, one named Mallette.
Two brilliant red lights hovered and maneuvered for 5 minutes.
Witnesses: USAF 1st Lt. W.A. Theil, one enlisted man.
One red ball with a blue flame tail flew straight and level for 3-4 seconds.
Witness: USAF A/3c W.F. Vain.
One yellow ball which lengthened and narrowed to plate shape, flew straight and level for 5 minutes.
Witnesses: one woman, two children.
One object, shaped like a lifesaver or donut, emitted black smoke from its top and made a 15' arc in 1.5 minutes. Observed for 2 hours.
Witnesses: USAF F-94 jet interceptor pilots 1st Lt. W.R. Holder and 1st Lt. Jones, and Haneda control tower operators.
Airborne radar tracked a target for 90 seconds. Control tower operators watched 50-60 minutes while a dark shape with a light flew as fast as 330 kts. (380 m.p.h.), hovered, flew curves and performed a variety of maneuvers.
Complete dossier on this case here.
This is a continuation of the Haneda AFB sightings.
Case missing from official files.
Witness: Mrs. Susan Pfuhl.
Four glowing white discs: one made a 180* turn, one flew straight and level, one veered off, and one circled during the 70 minute sighting.
Witness: USAF A/3c J.P. Raley.
One disc-shaped object flew very fast and then hovered for 2 seconds during a 5-6 minute sighting.
Witness: USAF Marine Corps pilot Maj. D. McGough.
One orange light flew a left orbit at 8,000' and 230 m.p.h., spiralled down to no more than 1,500', remained stationary for 2-3 minutes and went out. An attempted interception was unsuccessful.
Witnesses: three policemen.
One object changed color like a diamond, and changed directions during the 30 minute sighting.
Witness: Ground Observer Corps observer Albert Lathrop.
Two objects, shaped like fat bullets, flew straight and level, very fast for 25 seconds.
Witnesses: Bill Ford and two others.
An undescribed object flew at 500' altitude for several minutes. No further data in files.
Witness: Jack Rossen, ex-artillery observer.
Three blue-white lights hovered then descended, 1.5 minutes later, one of them descended more.
Witnesses: USAF 2nd Lt. H.K. Funseth, a ground radar observer, and two U.S. Navy men.
One pulsing amber light was seen to fly straight and level for 7 minutes.
Witness: Georgia Air National Guard F-84G jet fighter pilot Col. G.W. Johnson.
Two 6' silver balls in abreast formation, one turned grey rapidly, the other slowly. One changed to long grey shape during a turn. Sighting lasted about 10 minutes.
More information and official report here.
Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. George White.
One large round, metallic, white light with a vague lower surface, flew slowly, then fast with a dancing, wavering motion, for about 1 minute.
Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Sharp.
One object, shaped like a spinning top, changing color from red to yellow to blue, and with a fiery tail, hovered for 20 minutes, whistling, then flew away. It, or another like it, returned an hour later.
Witness: radio station musician William Squyres.
One dull aluminum object, shaped like two meat platters, face to face, estimated at 75' long, 45' wide, and 15' thick. Through a window in the front section shone a blue light, the head and shoulders of a man could be seen. The mid section had numerous windows through which could be seen some kind of regular movement. A series of small propellers were spaced close together along the outer edge of the object, revolving at high speed. The object was hovering about 10' above the ground, 100 yards off the road, with a slight rocking motion. It then ascended vertically with a sound like a large covey of quail starting to fly at the same time. Vegetation showed signs of having been disturbed under the object.
Witnesses: civilian supervisor Fred Lee, foreman L.A. Aquilar.
One round silver object flew south, turned and flew north, made a 360 turn and flew away vertically after 3-5 minutes.
Witness: USAF Capt. D.A. Woods.
One large, round, very bright object with a V-shaped contrail having a dark cone in the center, flew very fast, hovered, made an instantaneous 90 turn, followed by a gentle climb and finally sudden acceleration.
Witnesses: USAF control tower operators, officer from USAF Office of Special Investigations, and others.
Six objects, varying from fiery red to sparkling diamond appearance, hovered, flew erratically up and down for 1 hour and l5minutes.
Witness: pilot C.A. Magruder.
Three objects, 50' in diameter, 10' high, aluminum with red-yellow exhaust, flew in trail at estimated 1,500 m.p.h. for 4-5 seconds.
Witnesses: two U.S. Navy pilots flying a P4Y-2 patrol plane.
Three white disc-shaped or spherical objects hovered, then flew very fast in a triangular formation, in 2-3 minutes.
Witness: ex-AAF B-25 gunner.
Two large white disc-shaped objects with green vapor trails flew in trail formation, merged, flew away very fast.
Witness: one unidentified person using binoculars.
Two large objects shaped like spinning tops and displaying red, blue and green colors, flew side by side, leaving a sparkling trail for 30 minutes.
Witnesses: Mrs. William Davis and nine other persons.
One light, similar to the evening star, moved up and down for a long period of time.
Witnesses: Mr. Bowman (ex-artillery officer) and 24 others.
A red, white, and blue-green object which spun and shot off sparks for 15 minutes.
Witnesses: Visual sighting by two USAF enlisted men, radar tracking seen by three men using AN/FPS-3 radar set.
Two small, varicolored lights became black silhouettes at dawn, flew erratically. One hour.
Witness: radar tracker Turason (ground controlled approach) at Midway Airport.
40 targets flew in miscellaneous directions, up to 175 m.p.h. Two seemed to fly in formation with DC-6 airliner. Total of 8 hours.
Witnesses: civilian pilots McCraven and Thomas.
One shiny, dark ellipse made three broad, curving sweeps in 1.5 minutes.
Witnesses: T/Sgt. J.E. Wilson and two enlisted men.
One bright star-like light moved about the sky for 2 hours.
Witnesses: ex-Congresswoman Mrs. Isabella King and Bill McClain.
One orange teardrop-shaped object whirled on its vertical axis, descended very fast, stopped, retraced its path upwards, while whirling in the opposite direction. 1.5 minutes.
Witnesses: chemist J.W. Gibson and others.
One orange object or light (the color of 2,000' F.) exploded into view. Seen for from 3-20 seconds by various observers.
Witness: E.J. Colisimo, a civilian illustrator with USAF Intelligence.
One disc with lights along part of its circumference, flew twice as fast as a T-33 jet trainer, in a slightly curved path for 5 seconds.
Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. David Kolb, of the Ground Observer Corps, using binoculars.
One white light with a red trim and streamers flew northeast for 35 minutes.
Witness: private pilot W.A. Hobler, flying a Beech Bonanza.
One object, shaped like a fat football, flaming orange-red color, descended and then pulled up in front of the witness' airplane. Seen for 2 seconds.
Witness: USAF C-54 transport pilot Tarbutton.
One blue-white light travelled straight and level, then went up. Seen for 30 seconds.
Witnesses: military persons from several countries aboard ships in the NATO "Operation Mainbrace" exercise
Among the sightings: one blue-green triangle was observed flying 1,500 m.p.h, three objects in a triangular formation gave off white light exhaust at 1,500 m.p.h.
Witness: Ground Observer Corps observer L.W. Barnes, using binoculars.
One red, cigar-shaped object, with three puffs behind it, flew west, then south, and then was gone. Seen 30-40 minutes.
Witnesses: consulting engineer R. J. Portis and three others.
Six groups of 12-15 luminous spheres or discs, which flew in formations varying from arcs to inverted-Y's, very fast.
Witness: pilot of Flying Tiger Airlines airplane N67977.
One blue light flew very fast on a collision course with the airliner. Note: the summary card attached to the file showed completely different information.
Witnesses: crew of U.S. Navy P2V Neptune patrol plane, visually and via radar.
A group of five lights was seen at the same time a long, thin blip was being tracked on radar. Note: consideration was given to this being USAF KC-97 airplanes involved in a refueling operation. The sighting involved 20 minutes.
Witnesses: three USAF officers, two civilians.
Two white lights flew abreast, at 100 m.p.h., for 15 minutes.
Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. Ted Hollingsworth.
Two groups of three large, flat, shiny objects flew in tight formations: the first group slow, the second faster. Seen for 2 minutes.
Witnesses: Pepperell AFB operations officer and seven other campers.
One bright white light, which reflected on the lake, flew straight and level at 100 m.p.h. for 10 minutes.
Witnesses: crew of USAF B-29 bomber.
A lot of bright, metallic particles or flashes, up to 3' in length, streamed past the B-29 for 15 minutes.
Witnesses: pilot, copilot, engineer and aircraft commander of USAF C-124 transport plane.
Two distinct green lights were seen to the right and slightly above the C-124, and at one time seemed to turn toward it. The lights alternated leading each other during more than 1 hour of observation.
Witnesses: two couples, using a 5x telescope.
One large, round object, which went through the color spectrum every 2 seconds, was seen to fly straight and level for 15 minutes.
Witnesses unknown, but report came via the Rochester Police Dept.
Two flat objects hovered for 3 minutes, and then sped away.
Witnesses: U.S. Army Res. 1st Lt. C.H. Stevens and two others.
One green ellipse with a long tail orbited for 15 minutes.
Witness: USAF T/Sgt. B.R. Hughes.
Five or six circular objects, bright white but not shiny, circled in trail formation for 5-6 minutes.
Witness: USAF 1st Lt. T.J. Pointek, pilot of RF-8O reconnaissance jet.
One bright white light flew straight, then vertical, then hovered, and then made an abrupt turn during a 23 minute attempted intercept.
Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. C.C. McLean and one other person.
One round, milky-white object, shaped like a powder puff, hovered for 5-10 minutes then flew away very fast in an arc. A loud blast was heard at the start of the 22 minutes sighting.
Witness: USAF Lt. Bagnell.
One pale blue oval, with its long axis vertical, flew straight and level for 4-5 seconds, covering 30 in that time.
Witnesses: USAF S/Sgt., two other enlisted men.
One blinking white light moved like a pendulum for 20 minutes, and then shot straight up.
Witnesses: Four USAF officers.
One round, bright blue light moved from north to northeast at an elevation of 45* for 2-3 seconds and then burned out.
Witnesses: Ministers Greenwalt and Kluck.
Ten lights, or a rectangle of lights, moved more or less straight and level for 5 seconds.
Witness: one military person (no detail).
One white streamer moved at an estimated 3,000 m.p.h. in an arc for 20 seconds. No further details in files.
Witness: one ex-USAF aircrewman Woolsey.
Three circular aluminum objects, one of which was olive-drab colored on the side, flew in a rough V-formation. One object flipped slowly, another object stopped, during the 3-4 minute sighting.
Witnesses: crew of USAF C-50 transport plane.
One round yellow light, with a red glowing edge, estimated at 100' in diameter, flew at 300-400 kts. (350-450 m.p.h.) for 20 seconds.
Witnesses: persons at airport weather station.
Six white lights flew in a loose formation for 1-2 minutes, and made a shallow dive at a weather balloon.
Witnesses: USAF Lt. Rau, Capt. Marcinko, flying a Beech T-11 trainer.
One object, shaped like a plate, with a brilliant front and vague trail, flew with its concave surface forward for 5 seconds.
Witnesses: USAF S/Sgt. Anderson, A/2c Max Handy.
One round object, silhouetted against a cloud, flew straight and level and smooth at 400 m.p.h. for 20 seconds.
Witness: USAF Lt. James Allen.
One orange, blimp-shaped object, 80' long and 20' high, flew at treetop level, crossed over Allen's car (at which time his radio stopped playing), then climbed out at 45' and tremendous speed at the end of a 1 minute sighting.
Witnesses: two control tower operators, including Lemaster.
One long, elliptical, white-grey light flew very fast, paused, and then increased speed during a 3-4 second observation.
Witness: housewife Mrs. Sprague.
Two groups of 2-3 whirling discs of light flew toward the southeast over a period of 30 seconds.
Witness: security inspector.
Four red-white-green lights flew slowly over a prohibited area for 15 minutes.
Witness: radar tracking by USAF 779th AC&W station.
An unexplained track was followed for 1 hour, 28 minutes, at 158,000' altitude (30 miles) and a speed of 240 m.p.h. Radar was FPS/3 (PPI).
Witness: U.S. Weather Bureau observer Earl Oksendahl.
Five oval-shaped objects, with lights all around them, flew in a V-formation for about 20 seconds. Each object seemed to be changing position vertically by climbing or diving as if to hold formation. Formation came from the northwest, made a 90* overhead, and flew away to the southwest.
Witnesses: USAF Maj. R.L. Wallander, Capt. Belleman, A/3c Phipps.
One orange object (a blue streak?) varied in shape, as it made jerky upward sweeps with 10-15 second pauses during a 3-5 minute sighting.
Witness: Lt. L. Brettner.
One round, glowing object flew very fast, made right angle turns and reversed course during a 1 hour sighting.
Witnesses: pilot and crew chief of UAAF B-26 bomber.
A series of black smoke bursts (4-3-3-4-3), similar to antiaircraft fire, was seen over a 20 minute period.
Operators at Washington National Airport.
Radar trackings similar to those of July 26, 1952.
Witnesses: pilot 1st Lt. D. Dickman and radar operator 1st Lt. T. Davies in USAF F-94 jet interceptor (s/n 49-2522). One white, oval light which changed to red at higher altitude, flew straight and level for 2 minutes, then climbed at phenomenal speed on an erratic flight path. Sighting lasted 10 minutes.
Witnesses: Capt. Bridges and 1st Lt. Johnson in USAF T-33 jet trainer.
Four bright lights, in diamond formation, flew at 400 m.p.h. and were passed by the T-33 at 450 m.p.h. during the 10 minute sighting.
Case missing from official files.
"Unidentified" says a great deal... and it says almost nothing.
Probably the most controversial aspect of the entire Air Force investigation of UFOs was its handling of individual cases.
The means by which one case was determined to be "identified" and another "unidentified" has no doubt fueled more arguments about Project Blue Book than anything else it did.
For many years, Blue Book's most vocal opponents have insisted that the standards by which cases were allegedly explained were grossly unscientific. Blue Book's goal, according to those who held it low esteem, was to attach some explanation to every case, regardless of logic or common sense. Examples of Blue Book saying a violently maneuvering disc was an aircraft, or of blaming a puzzling radar tracking on a supposedly malfunctioning radar set which it never bothered to check out, are numerous in the popular UFO literature.
And they are even more numerous in the files of Project Blue Book. The urgency with which Blue Book officials tagged answers onto cases without having done the proper investigation is obvious, though not proven. But if the Air Force was so eager to label cases "identified", despite the lack of supporting evidence, then those few cases which it labeled "unidentified" presumably withstood every attempt to apply every other kind of label. And so it may be that those cases are truly unidentifiable in familiar terms.
Indeed, the Air Force defines "unidentifiable" cases as those which "apparently contain all pertinent data necessary to suggest a valid hypothesis concerning the lack of explanation of the report, but the description of the object or its motion cannot be correlated with any known object or phenomenon."
To meet such criteria, a report must obviously come from a reputable source, and it must not bear any resemblance to airplanes, balloons, helicopters, spacecraft, birds, clouds, stars, planets, meteors, comets, electrical phenomena, or anything else known to frequent the air, the sky, or nearby space.
Unfortunately, the Air Force failed to stick to its own rules. Some of the "unidentifiable" cases most certainly can be correlated with known objects or phenomena. But most of them cannot. Moreover, many of the so-called "identified" cases cannot honestly be so correlated. But we are primarily concerned here with those cases which Project Blue Book openly admits it tried to explain and failed.
The amount of detail in these cases varies enormously. Some cases - frequently those which were well publicized at the time of the event - contain considerable information, while others are vague and seriously incomplete. Project Blue Book generally placed the blame for such incompleteness on the witnesses, but it should take its own share of the responsibility. In thousands of cases, there is no completed questionnaire in the Project files, nor even any indication that one was sent to the witness. And in most of the instances where a questionnaire was filled out, it was never followed up to get more complete answers to questions which the witnesses failed to deal with properly. For much of the life of Project Blue Book and its predecessors, there was no satisfactory questionnaire at all. And one of those used for a lengthy period was so badly organized that a witness should not be held to blame for giving incomplete answers.
Yet, despite all the roadblocks, many reports are sufficiently complete to tell a pretty clear story of a puzzling experience. With this data now available, anyone can look at Project Blue Book's "unidentified" UFO reports and make up his own mind.
The above case summaries are from the work of Don Berliner, who compiled a listing of the Project Bluebook "unknowns". In January, 1974, he visited the U.S. Air Force Archives at Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, Alabama, to review the files of Project Blue Book as the first step toward writing a book on the subject.
In a full week, he read all the "unexplained" cases in the original files and made extensive notes, including the names and other identifying information on all witnesses where given. The cooperation of the staff of the Archives was excellent, and no restrictions were placed on his work.
A few months later, the files were withdrawn from public view so they could be prepared for transfer to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This process involved making a Xerox copy of almost 30 file drawers of material, blacking out the names and other identifiers of all witnesses, and then microfilming the censored Xerox copy. The microfilm has been available to the public at the National Archives since 1976. The original Project Blue Book files remain under lock and key at the Archives.
On almost every page of the 12,000+ case files, there are big black marks where information that could be used to cross-check Project Blue Book's controversial work has been censored.
This includes the names of witnesses to widely-publicized cases, and even names in newspaper clippings!
As it was perfectly legal for him to copy witness' names when he visited the Air Force Archives, those names can be found in this report of 585 (less 13 missing) unexplained cases. And since the Privacy Act, which motivated the Air Force to censor the files in the first place, does not apply to reporters or anyone else outside the Government, they can be used as the reader pleases.
Inasmuch as the book he planned to write has never further than the manuscript stage, he saw no reason to keep this information under wraps any longer, thinking that perhaps it will encourage others to re-investigate cases and make the results known.
This is why I published here all the summaries of these more than 700 cases, and publish a French translation for the French speaking UFO researchers.
