Project Stork Status Reports and Related Documentation (1952-1953)

This document is a compilation of status reports and related technical documentation for Project Stork (Contract AF-19741, PPS-100), conducted by the Battelle Memorial Institute for the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base between 1952 and 1953. The primary objective of the project was to establish a systematic method for coding, processing, and statistically analyzing reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). The reports detail the transition from manual processing to the use of IBM punched cards to manage the increasing volume of sighting reports. A significant portion of the documentation focuses on the development of standardized interrogation forms, specifically the 'U.S. Air Force Technical Information Sheet' (Forms A and B), designed to capture more detailed and consistent data from observers. The project also involved the consultation of experts, most notably Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who provided astronomical expertise and conducted interviews with professional astronomers to gauge their perspectives on UAP. The reports highlight the challenges of evaluating these sightings, noting that as the quality of reports improved, the time required for evaluation increased. The project also included the analysis of physical evidence, such as soil and vegetation samples from various locations, though these tests generally yielded no significant findings. A recurring theme in the correspondence is the tension between the scientific community's desire for a rigorous, open investigation and the Air Force's operational and security concerns. Dr. Hynek consistently advocated for treating UAP as a legitimate scientific problem, arguing that the existing approach of ridicule or dismissal was counterproductive. The document includes detailed exhibits illustrating the coding schemes, work sheets, and punched card formats used to categorize sighting data, as well as a specific incident report (Incident 202) involving a sighting by Edmund J. Cisek in 1948. The reports reflect the ongoing effort to manage the backlog of sighting data and the hope that statistical analysis would eventually reveal patterns or trends in the phenomena. By early 1953, the project was still in the process of coding and evaluating 1952 reports, with the goal of beginning a comprehensive IBM analysis of all data collected through 1952 by February 1953.