RETURN TO The Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Maxwell AFB, AL 36112 RF:COMMENDA.rr 0115 Fucure activity on tt11s project should b~ carried on at the m1n1mum l~v~l nftcessnry to r!cord, summariz~, and ~valunte the data r~c~ived on ftlture reports and to complete the specialized 1nv~st1gations now 1n progress. ~en and if a sufftct~nt number of 1nc1de~ts are solv~d to indicate that these slghtlngs do not repres~nt a tt1rat to th security of the natioh, th assignment of sp~cial project status to the activity could b t~rminated. Future 1nv t1gat1ons of r~ports would th~n b~ handl~d on a routine basts like a~y other 1ntell1>ence work. Reporting a;;encies should be i rnpress ed with the necess1 ty for ~8tting more factual ~vidence on signtir~s, such as photo~raph~, phys1aal vid~n~ , rad&r s1~htin,.s, and data on s!z and sh~pe. P~rsonn~l sight1nF, such objects should enga~ ~ the ass1stan~e of oth~rs, wh~n poss1bl, to ~-t more def1n1c~ dst For ~xampl , ~:ilJ.tary pilots shoul(l notify nei.-. .. hborinR bases by radlo of the pres nee and dirct1on of fli ~ht or an un1det1tifi~d object so that oth~r:-obs~rv~rs, in flight Or' on th~ ~round, could assl st in its 1d~ntif1cat1ono CONCLUSIONS No de.f'in~te and conclusiv,._ ev1denc is yt aveilabJ. that would prov~ or disprove the xistence of th~s~ un1dent1fi d obj ets ae r al alrcrs.ft or unknown and uncanvr~tional conf1 lration. It 1s unlt.kely that poslttv~ proof of their xl tence will b ob- tained without ~xam1nat1on of tre r mains of crashd objects. P~oor of non-ex1.st,r.c 1s qually 1mposs1ble to obtain unlss a reasonabl and conv1nc1n, ~xplenstlon is d~t~rm1nd ror ~ch Many s1ght1ngs by qual1f1 d and appar~ntly reliabl wttn~ss~s hav~ been reportd. How~v~r, each 1ncjd~nt has unsatisfactory features, such ~ shortn~ss of ti~e und~r observetion, distance rrom observer, vaguen~ss or description or photogr~phs, 1noons1s- t!l!tnc1ta.s between individual obse.rv~rs, end lack or descriptive dAta, that pr@v~nt~ d~f1n1te conclue1on8 b~1ng drawn. Explanations, of som~ of the indid nts r~val d th ~x1st~noe o s 1mpl and ,_,as1ly und~rstan;jabl causes, so that th.-re 1s th pos!!1bility that enough incid nts can b solv~d to el1m1nat~ o r ~reatly ~educe the mystery associated with thse occurrences. / ~valu~t.tlon of reports of un1d~nt1f1 d objects is a nec~ssary activity of military 1ntellignoe s ncl~s. Such s1ght1ngs are inevitable, and under wartlme conditions rapid and convincing solu- tion of such ooourrenc~s are necessary to mainta1n morale of m11.1tary and c1v!lian p~rsonn~l. In t h i s !~spct, jt 1s considered that the establishment of proc~dur s snd t raining o f personn~l 1s in its~lf worth the effort expended on th1s proj~c t DISCUSSION 0 r nan i z at 1 on or D at -l on Inc 1 en t s Approxim~t~ly 243 dom st1c 1nc1rtnts hav~ b~en revlwed, At th~ pr~sent time. In ncb lnci nt, tl1 ob~rvors hav been 1 nt rr-o~ated by inv .. s ti ~s tors and t} results ha v be~n analyzed by t ~hr11cal p~rsonn~lo Conden s d s umrnar 1~ s b ave b~ en pr~par~d for t} 11 s t of 1n- c1.d~nts 1n suffici-.nt OIJantity t o make tl. basic information ~astly avsilabl to 1nd1 riduals or 3~nc1e~ hav1n~ an authority or an 1nteres t in th project. ( Se~ App~ndix A). A detail'!d ch~ck 11 s t, comp11 ~d by tchn1 'cal per onnel, 1n- d1cat.1n th~ basic elements of nformation, ncessa~y for analysis of th 1ndtv1dual 1nc1dt, has b en prepar~d nci distributed to epproorl9. t~ f\OV~rnm nt ai" .. nc!e~. In order to 1d~nt1fy ord:l.nary and conv,.,nti onal obj,..cts, that hnv probably been included in the list of r~port d 1nc)d~nts, graphical m~tl~ods have b~en sppli~d, so as to craent th~ basic data 1 :'l such form that. ov rall facts, 1mpl1 c 1 t in the grouped data, will b made apparent. (See Appendix B) The pr pared graphical data includes: (a) Charts conc~rninc unid~nti led aerial objcts, to indi- 1. Type of objct observed 2. Vicinity in which particular typ~ of obj~ct v:ss ob- 3. Djrection of fl1~ht (b) Locations of guided rn!ssil~s, r a arch nd r-lated (c) Locat1nns o airlines, e1rfields, both military and comme rt 1 al. (d) Locations of radio beacon stations (~) Known or proj~ctd radar stations from which reports and ass 1 s t C-&.., c ma y o ~ de r 1 v ed (f) MeteoroloFical stations from wh!ch balloon relss~ data, rad1osonde or theodolite r~ad1ngs may be obtained (g) Past , curr~ntJand projected c~lest1al phenomena (h) Fl1~ht pa tl of migratory b1rda Ut CL;1SSir1-D Psycholog1c&l An~lys1a A psychological analysis of tl1e r ported data is be1t1P pre- pared by A~ro-Wed1.caJ Laborator'y, A.M. C., for the puzpose of d~ t rmtnJn~ those incidents that ar-probably based upon rrons of the human mind ~nd s nses. A preliminary v~rbsl report from the professional, psycholog l sts 1ndioat~s th.at a considerable number o ... incidents can be explained as orrlina.ry occurrenc"'s that have been mjsrepree ntea, as the rsult of human errors. The condition of "vert1.f"O", well known to airplAne pilots, AS w~ll fl!l oth~r!, is constd~red to he an important factor in some of th~ reported incidents. "V~rtigo" is d~fined from a md i cal vi ewpo tnt by Wf!bst f!l!r' ,s D :tct1 onary as "Di z z1ne ss or sw1mm- in~ of th~ h~ad; a disturbance in whlch obj~cts, trough stationary, ~.ppsr to mo'r~ in v arious d1r~ot1ons, and the p~rson affected 'finds j t d 1 r f 1 c u 1 t to m a 1. n t e 1 n an ~ r e o t post ur.., It rna y r _, e ul t from chang~s 1.n th~ blood supply of th~ brain or from dis~as of the blood, yes, ars, stomach,or oth.,r or ans." Ac lerntj on~, resul t1ne fr<:aair!)lane maneuvlljrs , togeth~ '*ith space-or-1~ntation difficulti~s at nivht 1n tLY} a1rplal!~, due to the lack of or stran~en~ss of v19ual r~fr~nces, mak s a condition of "vert 1 go" mor 1 tkl y to ap p-ar in p rsonn 1 in night - flying ajrcraft thqn under mo norm3l C0!'1d1ttons. 1'he fa~t that both pi lot and co-pilot may r"por t th sam~ 1 mpressions is not coroplet e proof of accuracy, sine~ both individuals have experinced the same maneuvers Sind ac~el~rat1ons anri he.v v1 ewed the same li hts and surroundings under th same opt1c~tl conditions (including the sam~ w1ndsh1~d and canopy p:las s) A tnore complt~ d1cuss1on of psychological factors is expect~d to be provtled in a !'uture status r~port. Quite probably, some of the 'incidents of f1.st, highly man.,uverlng "11~hts'', reported by both air and ground obs rv rs, ar~ the esult of "vertigo" or optical illusions. , Strictly speakin~, no eng1n~er1ng analysis of an 1ncid~nt should b injtiat~d until th psychological analysis has been mad nnd has shown that psychological factors cannot explain the obs rve.tion. Ap-ncieez Out~J_de A~.r ~at~.ri,.l Command, .SUPE~y1ng Informatio~ and Specialist s~rv1cAS, suppl~m~ntary to those or Alr Mat~r1el Command t~chnlcnl of1"icea, are b~1ng provid-d by a nu"-rlber o f ag~n Th.-Air w~athr Serv1 c~ has revi~wed the 11 st of 1nc1d~rt s nnd has prov1.d,..d the 1nforrr..at1 on that twenty-four of t}em coincide, both with r~sp~ct to location and tim~, with th~ releas~ cf weathr balloons. UNCLASSIFIED l 'C: ASSIFIED The Ohio St8t~ Univrs1ty has contracted with Air Ma.ter1 1 Comm&nd to supply astronomical s~rv~es in an eff'ort to 1 nt1ry meteors, plenetoid~ and associated phenomana. Professor' Hynekp Ohio State Univer-sity Astro-Physicist and b .a<i of thfl!' Un1v~rajt.y Obs ervs tory has und~rt at{ en to r vi I';W th~ 1 n cjd ~ t 3 urn '!I ary nh ~e t s. While this work ha.s not yet b~en compl~ t~d, Pro resscr Hynll!k bns -r!l'port~d. verb!.\lly thot h" ls satisfied that n number or th~ re- port-d observat1on8 r~present astro-physical phenom~nn. Memb~rs of th Sclnt1C1c Adviso~y Board to th~ Chi~f or Stat"'f, USAW, who hnv~ prov ded consultant services tn Proj~ct 1nclui.., Dr. Ir-vinp:: Lan~muir., Chief, '~n al El~ctric R search a~d Dr. G. E. Vall~y of MIT. A pr~liminary typ~ of interview has ~een h~ld btwe~n Dr. Langmui11 and p~rsonnel of Project "S1gnr! during arly stA-r,s of th~ pro j ~ct. It 1 s in tended to consult further w 1. th Dr. Langwu1r. in ~n et'fort to suppl~m~nt present technical ef"orts toward 1den- t1fy1n~ the ~eport~d objects. Dr. G. B. Valley has displayed an active inter st in Project "Sign", to the ext~nt of reviewin~: th~ r~port~d incidents and wr1t.1ng an overall tyo~ of analysis in ~r:.ch he groups the various objects and th~n analyzes ~ach gr'oup frcm th~ standpoint o f sc1en- ttf1c fess1b111ty. This analysis is prov1ied as App nd1x (C) to this rport. Inasmuch as 1rar1ous surmiss have oe~n adva!l-:.:ed that some of th t'~port~d observations may hav repres~nted opace sh ps" or the rtand Corpor&tion, under the Rand Proj~ct, to provide an 8nalys1s from this !IJta.ndpoint and also to pro'l:ide fundsm~ntal 1nforn~.at1on, pertaj ntng to th~ b~sic desi Rn and performan characteristic~ that m1liht d1stjnpuish a possibl~ "spac : ~hJp." A--s a preliminary undertaking, th Rend ProJect has sub.rr.ittd a study by Dr. Lipp 1n which th possibility is explord o~ any plan.,t 1n th-known univr.s b"'i.ng in a physical And culturAl position to allow the dev~lopment and use of th ''space Bhip". This study hns b~ ~n prepar~d 1n the Corm or a report that 1s pr~ sentd as App~nd1x (D) he .v,n th ~ r Bu~ea.u L 1 b1ary of tb e Dep aPtm.-.n t of Comrn~ rce has suppltd 1nformatln n on ''bell 11 htn1ng''. Thj s \'V'as P~qusted he- cswe of th~ bl tef by s orn~ praons that some of the o'>s-erva tion~ may hav~ r~preR~nted ''ball lightn.tng''. It app~ers that the sub- J~ct or "ball lightning'! occup:ies ~n undet~rmln~d s atus ani author1 t1 es ar~ not at all convtnced that such a phenom~na actually Th~ Federal Bures.u of InvestigA.tton has assisted Project "Sign" in a number of instances, both by investigations of the character end r e11ab111ty or wi tnesse! of incidents and by providing oth~r 1nvest1~at1ve services. r CLASSlFlED Uf\:C ",. .. SJFIED Cqns~d~rat1ons Arfectlng Anali~ls and Evaluation OPERATIONAL Inftsmuch &~ ther is a distinct poseiollity that a number of th~ rport~d incidents repres nt do stic proj cts or a ecur- &tr-classifi~d nature, th~ list of incidents has b n submitted to hi~h~r ~chelons for re~iew. Since w~ather balloons, blimps, airplanes of unusual siz- or conriguration,and v,u1ded m1ssils t~st v~hjcl s may repr~s-nt 30m~ of the observations, action hBs b n taken to o~tain informa- tion, conoerninf sche iul~e and fl1ghts of such ~raft from th" appropr1st~ av~n~l~s. In conn~ction with the psycholo icol stud! s being p rformed, e.xtens tve-inve s tlga ti ons, concerning the charact r and r~ll ab111 t y of the report1n witnesses hav~ b~en mad a 'rECHNICAL A o~rta1n p roportion or 1nc1detlts app~ar to be r~al aircraft, though of unconventional confl~uration. In order to investigate the credibility of their existence the f ollowing factors must be considered in any technical analysis. Method of S~pport (lift) Fueela~e Lift (W1np,less) Ve.rtlcal Jet Megnus Effect (rota.ttng cyl1nd r, con-. or sph r , sub- j cted t o r elative translational ajr velocity) Aerostatjc (11~hter-than-a1r era t) M~thod of. Propul~ion (Thrust) Prop ller-reclprocAting ~ng1ne combination Jet, rock~t, ramj t (utilizing conventional f uls e nd oxidants or possibly atomtc en r gy) larodyntur.lc (Katzro.a.y--r Effect -oscilllting airfoils de vel oping negat 1 1e dra ( thrust) If an atomic ~nergy powered en~1n~ were availabl , a smell mass f'low at a ls.r velocity .could accompliih the r 11!QU1r~d lit't ~nd propuls1ve forces and th~ larg e en~rgy expend!tur~ Nould be of small 1mportanceo , However, the heat exchang e requl ... ~.m~nts f o r th ato:n! c - powered engine appear to domand physical dimensions o f inordinate size that presently would e th use of this p owerplant for aircraft c In ad41tlon, alrcratt would r quir an xo asiv p a t llbt or ahl 141af tor human prot otlon, unleaa oonr1gura- t1ona ot xtr 17 lar 1 1 w r ua d. It unahield d crart r ln op at Son, x1atl ns 4 t ot1on ana would probablJ ha.e tallursloal llmltatlona to dat , llm1t the ra or oon- t!Dg th h at 17 of th atomic aouro to ua ful propulal wo k to auab an 1n rr tlv ore! r ot gnltud that auoh a power 171t 1a qult un11k lJ rrom th atan4po1nt or siz e and w1Fht A am!o (botb 1tatlo and d,naalo throu~ th ua ot 4JDaalo urtao aft4 1stlt d1atr1but1on). ohanlsa ( !JI'O or aco 1 ,...,_, t r -servomotor Jt m) Movabl surfaces in airflow or jet Jet (tlow control or awlv ling t1Pea). Poeelble Spa ehipa World knowl d , t obn1quea, and reaourca ar oonald to b preaentlJ ad uate ror the d elo nt or apac ahlpa. Dlatlngu1al'l1ng dellfUl an4 p rtormano pa r t rs are z- otecl to b suprlled a apeo1al atudy bJ t h Rand ProJect. Probable atural AatrophJaloal (meteora, cometa, plan toida, tc.) AetrophJalcal anal7aia 1a exp oted to be p rroraaed bJ p raonn 1 or Ohio Stat Un1veraltJ Rea arch Poundatlon. Bl ctromagn~t1o (ball 11~htnln@, St. Elmo' Pire, Pboa- phoro ce, oorona, eto.). Ordnmo It u Whll tbia analyaia aona1~ r th rported objects lar l7 trom atandpotnt or alrc~art with r qu1r m nta for a ed and aubatant1al duration or tl1gbt and , it ls nt1relJ poaaibl thet t oontlaurationa r port 4 in amall ala could a rv aa y rJ ua tul ordnance lt t o tekP th plac~ ot (or suppl nt) auob ahort-raas apona or ground (lntant~J) warra~e the trench mortar, gr , etc. Tb amall aauc r-llk , aplnnlng, UNCLASSIFIED apparently b ~xcess1.v~ly hip.}, since the asp~ct rat.1 o of a cir- cular pl~nform is only 1.27. Extensjon of th~ Prandtl theory, has also shown that the maximum poss.ibl 11ft coe!'f1 c1 ent to "'1 exp~oted from !!uch low ssp ct ratio pJ.anforms should al~o ")_. poor. In addition, th~ rela.tive: y lsrge mean e.-rodynamjc chord would pres~nt difficult design problems, to ch1~v~ static longi- tudinal stab1lit;y for airfoil sectione hav1n a s1!nif1 cant ct-~nter o f-pres sur e t r a v 1 , or for a 1 r roil s e c t l on s or so -ca 11 ~ d '' s tab 1 e" typ~, when ftqu'pped with a1.lerons at the trailing edgeG In the v~ry low aspect ratio ranpe, the Prandtl th~ory 1s probably v"'ry inaccurate. Wind-tunn"l teste of' very low aspect ratio airfoils indicat~ much l~s! induc~d drag 1ncreas~ than ~x p~ot~d frc m th~ory and also demonstrate very hl~h maxim\lm lift coeff1c1~nt accompan1~4 by extrem~ly hi~h stalling anaiea. How- ever, in s:~eneral the induced drag of ry low aspect ratio wings is much larger than the 1n::lur~ed drag of conv,.nt1onal alrcreft wings, a ~ond1t1on which would adversely affect all performance val uee in flight conditions which require medlum and hi Ph 1 t ft coefflc1~nts. Thus, perfor-mance in climb, at alt1 tude, and fo1~ longrang e cond1t1ons would b e relatively poor, although high speed would be little affected . Notw1thstandjng the predicted aerodynamic disadvantages of circular planform wings, quite a number or exper1m al ~fforts have been mad_.. to us~ th l s conf1gurat1 on -and r~.ot all of them by p~rsons ignorant or aerodyn ic fundamntala. Exper1rn~ntal wlnd-tunnel work at the NACA (1933) showed both maximum 11ft co- efficients and stall chftracter1st1cs much mor~ favorabl~ than could be anticipated. Th~ probl~m of ~tatio longitudinal stability could possibly, be solv~d by th us~ of a stable a1rfo11 section or the reflexed trailing edge type with wing t1p a1lrons (perhaps float1n~) a~ro dynarn1cally ind~perdent of the wing. At supersonic ~peeds, wh~r-e th,. induced drag is srnnll, the circular planrorm offers the probab1li ty of r due d drag , characterist1c of low asp~ct ratio airfoils in the sup~rsonic ran~o. Also the circular planform pre~ents a swept-back leadin edg (of variable sweep along the span), Whjc~ should~ sult in a reduced effective Mach Numb~r, with att~ndant r duc- d drag for a certain supersonic speed range. No definite information has been received on the metho d of propulsion used on flying diske wh:i. ~h Ya ve be~n sigh t led. However, b~cause of distance factors involved in the si~ht1ngs it ls quite possible that ~ither propellers or j~t propulsion could have been ereployed wittout being noted by the observ,.r. Fliing Fus.elages (T<r E.t!do or C".Rar-Sh~p~d Body) While the oiga~or torpedo-shaped body rp~esents form for the fuselag e of an airplnn~ or the body of a Ur~CL/-\SSlFIED an eff1c1~nt uided m1sil~, UNC ASSIFIED in n!tlther case has it been used as a pr1mary llft-producin~ sur- faae. However, an extension of the Prandtl theory of 11ft 1qd1- oAtea tha~ a fuselage or the d1mens1ons r~ported by the Eastern Airlines pilot .Yh1. ted and Chil ~s in the Montgom~ry, Aloama, 1n- ~ident could support a load comparable to the weight of an a1rorart or this slze at flying speeds in the subson1o range. The Prandtl th~ory probably giv~s 'ltrry conservat:1 ve valu~s of maximum lift ror bodies or this shape. Grman experience 1ndicat~s that the ma.x1mum lirt may b_. twioe as h1~h as that given by the theory. Although th~ crart sighted by Whited and Ch11~s was r~ported to b~ without wings and fins, it is possible that it could have been equipped with extensible win~s for take-of~ and landtng, eontatnd within the rue~la in cruising flight. This type of aircraft could aleo be partiAlly supportea in the tsk-orr and landing oond tlon by the vertical component of th~ j~t thrust, 1f the land1ng and take-orr took place w!th the rus~lsge axis, or th~ J~t stream dir~ctlcn 1n a vertical or n arly v"rtical altitude. The furth~r possi.b111ty thltt an extensible rotor, oon~eal~d witt1in the ruselag~, could hav be~n used, woul.d provide anoth~r m~thod for landing and tak~-o~r that would allow wingless flight at v~ry h i gh speed. Such a d~sian could rsult ln a relativ~ly larg~ duration of flight and corresponding rnnge. While no stabilizing fins wer~ apparent on the "flying fuse- lage'' reported by Whited and Chiles, it is possible that v~nes within the j~t, operated by a gyro-servo system coul:l have pro- vided stat1c ata.,ility, longitudinally, dirfl!ot1onally and l;s.terally. Th~ same vanes could also hav~ been used for accomplishing static balance or trlm, as well as control t'or man~uver1 n v . The above discussion regarding weight, contro119b111ty, sta- bility, tc. is not int~nded to present deductions r~gardlng the -.xa.ct natu rf! of th~ torpedo or cigar-shap~d a1rcraft which were sighted by the airline pilots, Whlt~d and Ch1l~i!s, and othrs . Th~y ar~ merely statments of poss1btliti~s, which are intnded to show that such an ajro~art could support and cont~ol itsel f by aerodynamic The propulsiv~ system of this type or v~hicl~ would app~a~ to b~ a jet or rock~t ~ng1n~. The sp~cjfic fuel consumption of n gin s to this type would be ~ath~r high. This, coupl~d with th~ fact that aerodynamic lift on su~h a body would b accompanid by