Review and Analysis of UFO Photo - Amarillo, Texas, 1956

This document collection details the investigation into a UFO sighting and subsequent photograph taken by J. G. Kirby near Amarillo, Texas, on August 1, 1956. Kirby, a Dallas-based rock and gem collector, reported observing a bright green, diamond-shaped object while driving on Route US 287. He claimed the object moved within a cloud formation for over two hours and was accompanied by a brilliant beam of light. Kirby, who identified himself as a former B-17 pilot, provided a photograph of the phenomenon to the FBI and the Air Force. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) initiated an inquiry, file 24-0-229, to determine the nature of the object. Internal analysis by various Air Force intelligence divisions (AFOIN-4F3 and AFOIN-4D2) concluded that the object was not a missile or rocket-propelled device. Experts noted the lack of reference points in the photograph, which made definitive analysis impossible. The investigation eventually shifted toward the possibility of a hoax. A faculty member from the University of Michigan, upon reviewing a newspaper clipping of the photo, suggested that because Kirby was a lapidarist, the image might be a trick photograph created using stones or a lavaliere. The Air Force officially maintained that the photograph carried no conclusion, though internal comments explicitly labeled it a 'suspected hoax.' The file also includes correspondence from 1960, where Major Lawrence J. Tacker responded to inquiries from a civilian named Richard Levine, reiterating that the Air Force had no conclusion regarding the Amarillo photograph and that the original negative remained with the owner. The documents reflect the Air Force's standard procedure for handling public reports, including the classification of intelligence reports and the dismissal of claims regarding space ships or extraterrestrial origins. The case was eventually closed with the determination that the evidence was insufficient and likely fraudulent.