~ .niD TO IDE. rTIFIC .TIO!. OF RETURN iTO USAF Historical A rchives ASI(ASHAF-A ) Maxwell AFB, Ala 36112 Tbeae Ulua&ratioaa re .. oduced on is of Information precediDI &ext. c. ExrunJ,J.e of Di&er~m Use: 1. Verbul Descripti on vf Ex&mple S ighting: Object was first s i ghted in the southeast , a bout half-way up fr01n the horizon to overhead , at 10:45 l!'l loca l time. Its shape or outline was hazy, but appear e d round and about the size of a ea ( a t a rrn' s l ength) from \vhe r e observed. It was dim at first but briehtened iderably as it got higher in t he sky . Its colo r a t tl1is point was bluish white. Afte r about two minutes it cro ssed t o the western part of the sky a little to the north of overhead ( zenith) and continued its flight toward the west. At this point its color appeared yell owis h white. The light went dim whe n it got two-thirds of the way t o the horizon. It then stoppe d and hovered for about one minute and then climbed rapidly, going toward the southwest and getting brighter. In less tha n thirty seconds, it had cl imbed to an elevation of approximately 60 degrees, and then the light went out abruptly. toria l Description of the Sighting: By r eferring to the example sheet, tice how simply the above s i ghting can be portrHyed and described, without words, on the example diagram attached here . Note the s t a rting point a t bee.ring 135 degrees (southeast) a nd elevation 45 deg rees (half-way up from the h orizon) at 10:45 PM (Military t ime, 2245), ond also the arrow marking direction of flight. Note also the varying thickness of t he line to denote cha nges in brightness , and the use of the dotted line t o indicate its path in the western part of the sky. time indicati ons" a long the path -2 minute s to get to the meridian (the north-south overhead line), the h ov ering f or 1 minute, and the ascent in 30 seconds to its c omplete disappearance, are all shown with a f e w lines . Thus , the entire sighting can be repr-esented e13sily on one diagram. D. Further Instructions and Information: 1. Relatjvely c ompl e x trajectories ca n be shown easily on a diagram of this type. A number o f objects sighted a lRo c a n be indicated, a s can any changing formation. The appa r ent size And sh13pe of the object. should be drawn in, pre fP.r- ably by the observer. In the case of e~n object ch~meine shape, this likewis e can be d r awn in. Together with the detail ed infornost ion a nd data f r um t h e "UFO Tech Sheet," both the investiga tor e nd a na lyst will no w ha ve a better, detaile d p icture what took place. It i.s clear here that. o ne p i cturE- d:1agraJU i s worth many words . It will be found tha t the use of sky d iaeramE vii lJ pr ovide a n excellent means of making ~onfirm:d;:ions, 1.:1.nd checking di.!->Cr<;lpancies or c ontradictions in reports from two or more o bser vers of tht=-same sjeJ1tine. A e l e nce a t t he sev e r a l drawings will serve t o show whethe r the var:ious obqerver's s t ories a r e conaist~nt o r support each oth e r . a m<~tter wh)ch is much mor' difficult t o determ:ine by at- tempting t o c ompar e numerous \o.Titt e n stotements. 3 It is r~<>cot:llll'?.nded that the Bctua l observc r mlkP the dra\<~ings, unlAs~ cir- cumstances such as physl ca l :1 nc-b:i 11 t y or othe r rP:'3.scr.s mak"' t h ) s t.mpos.si ble o r difficult. The investiea t o r should n o t influence the ohs~rvr>r' B d r nrinr in c:n~: wa y , and shoul d prtwide osRi s t ance only 0 P t hose poi.nt.s wlti ch ~r n 0 t clo:-~r t o he observer.. Hov:ev~r, i f the observer f ails t o t:rasp thl'1 i dcn of' the d:ia('rA.m (itself eome indication of hi11 v&.lue bS a reUe~blt: obser vt:r), the investieator o r interrogator s hould lllbke the drawing from the obse.cve r ' H verba l description. COU.il>leted diagram ~:!hould a lweoys be given to the observe r to check a nd approve. 4 In some casec where the investigator m~ke s the drawing for the observer, it may be advisable f or the investigator to deliberately ~ake a mistake o r two in the drawing, to see whether the observer is sure of his facts to catch the error when given the diagram to check. 'fhis r eliability check" ::lhould be used with t act and discretion. 5 The landscaping in the sky dibgram is placed there to help visualization. If any prominent landmarks such as known mouuta:!ns, buildings, water towers, or specific installations and trees, etc. are part of the sighting area, they should be incorporat ed into the d r awing. They may later prove to be invaluable a s loca- tion, p l otting or reference points in subsequent investigations of the area or sighting in question. 6. \ihere the observer hae some faroil \ari ty with the constellations or other heavenly bodies, he should 1ndicatel> if poHsible, the l'elationship (and movements) of the object with respect t o these bodies~ This can be sketched on either page 6, item 33 or pages 9-10 of "Sumnary Data" shc~et. Typical examples that can be easily illustrated: " The object seemed to pass very slowly between the two bottom stars of the handle of the Bi g Dipper. The Bi g Dipper was in a vertical position, with the handle pointing down, " or " Object was about the size of a tennis ball- and remained stationary slightly below about 15 degrees and t o the left of the 7 The sky diagram is not meant t o replace written statements or reports, but to supplement them, a iding the investigator to visualize the sighting and the observer to recall the original circt~tancea. IMMEDI ATE RELEA AIR FORCE RELEASES STUDY ON .UNIDENTir~IED AERJ.AL :C'BJECTS The results of an investigation begun by the Air Force in 1947 into the field of Unidentifie d Aerial Objects (so- calle d flying saucers) were released by the Air Force today. No evidence of the existence o f the popularly-termed "flying was found. The report was based on study and analysis by a private scientific group unde r the supervision of the Air Technical Intel- ligence Center at Dayton, Ohio. Since the instigation of the in- estigation more than seven years ago, methods and procedures have been so refined that of the 131 s i ghtings reported durinG the first four month s of 1955 only three per cent v1ere listed as unknown. (A sumnary of t he report is attached. ) Commenting on this report~ Secretary of the Air Force Donald A. Quarles uaid: "On the basis of this study we believe that no objects such as those popularly describe d as flying saucers have overflown the United States. I feel certain that even the unknown three per cent could have been explained as conven tional phenomena or illusions if more complete observational data had been available. "However, we are now entering a period of a viation technology in whic h aircraft of unusual configuration and flight characteris- tics will begin to appear. "The Air Force and the other Armed Services have under develop- ment several vertical-rising, high performance aircraft , and as early as last year a propeller driven vertical-rising a ircraf t was flown. The Air Force will fly the first jet-powered vertical - rising airplane in a matter of days. We have another project under contract with AVRO Ltd.~ of Canada~ whic h could result in disc- shaped aircraft sorr.ewhat similar to the popular concep t of a flying saucer. An avail~ble p icture , while only an artists' conceptio could illustrate such an object. (Photogrn.ph i s ava1.lrtblE! at Pictorial Franch, Room 2D780, Ext. 75331) . "\:Jhile some o f these may take novel forms, such as the AVRO p~oject, they are direct-line descendents of conventional aircraft and should not be regarde d as supra-natural or mysterious. We ex- ct to develop airplanes that will fly faster, higher and perhaps farther than present designs, but they will still obey natural l aws and if manned, they will still b e manned by normal terrestrial air- men. Other than reducing runway requirements we do not expect verti cal-rising aircraft to have more outstanding military charac- teristics than conventional types. "Vertical-rising aircraft capable of transiti:::>-:1 ';::) 3 ""1,:.:.'3:t1:_c horizontal flight will be a new phenomenon in o~r ~-cies, u.<~..: t .. ~..1.:;r certain conditions could give the illusion of the so-called flying saucer. The Department of Defense will make every effort within bounds of security to keep the public informed of these developments so they can be recognized for what they are. " Mr. Quarles added: '.'I think we must recognize that other countries also have the capability of developing vertical-rising a ircraft, perhaps of unconventional shapes. However we are sati s - fied a t this time that none of the sighti ngs of so-called 'flying saucers' reported in this country were in fact aircraft of forei gn Attachment (Analysis Of Reports Of Unidentified Aerial Objects) P.eports of unidentified aerial objects (popularly termed ''fly- ing saucers or "flying discs ) have been received by the U. S . Air Force since mid-1947 from many and diverse sources. Although there was no evidence that the unexplained reports of unidentified objects constituted a threat to the security of the United StatesJ the Air Force determined that all reports of unidentified aerial objects should be investigated and evaluated to determine if ''flying saucers'' represented technological developments not known to this country. In order to discover any pertinent trend or pattern inherent in the data, and to evaluate or explain any trend or pattern found, appropriate methods of reducing these data from reports of unidenti- fied aerial objects to a form amenable to scientific a::>praisal were employed. I n general, the original data upon which this study WciS bases consisted.of impressions and interpretations of apparently unexplainable events, and seldom contained reliable measurements of physical attributes. This subjectivity of the data presented a major limitation to the drawing of significant conclusions, but did not invalidate the application of scientific methods of study. The reports received by the U . S . Air Force on unidentified aerial objects were reduced to IBM punched-card abstracts of data by means of logically developed forms and standardized evaluation pro- cedures. Evaluation of sigh ting reports, a crucial step in the pre- paration of the data for statistical treatment, consisted of an appraisal of the reports and the subsequent categorization of the object or objects described in each report. A detailed description of this phase of the study stresses the careful attempt to maintain complete objectivity a nd consistency. Analysis of the refined and evaluated data derived from the original reports of sightings consisted of (1) a systematic attempt to ferret out any distinguishing characteristics inherent in the data of any of their segments, (2) a concentrated study of any trend or pattern found, and (3) an attempt to determine the probability that any of the UNKNOWNS represent observations of technological . developments not known to this country. The first step in the analysis of the data revealed the exis- tence of certain apparent similarities between cases of objects definitely identified and t hose not identified. Statistical methods of testing when applied indicated a low probability that these apparent similarities were significant. An attempt to determine the probability t hat any of the UNKNO\IJNS represented observations of technological developments not known to this country necessitated a thorough re-examination and re-evaluation of the cases of objects not originally identified; this l~d to the conclusion that this probability was very small. The special study which reslllted in this report (Analysis of Reports of Unidentified Aerial Objects, 5 May 1955) started in 1953. To provide the study group with a complete set of files, the info r - ~ation cut-off date was established as of the end of 1952. It will accordingly be noted that the statistics contained in all charts and tables in this report are terminated with the year 1952. In these charts, 3201 cases have been used. As the study progressed, a constant progra~ was maintained for the purpose of making comparisons between the current cases received after l January 1953, and those being used for the report. This was done in order that any change or significant trend which might arise from current developments co~ld be incorporated in the summary of this report. 1953 and 1954 cases shovJ a general and expected trend of increasing percentages in the finally identified categories. They also show decreasing percentages in categories where there was in- sufficient information and t hose where the phenomena could not be explained. This trend had been anticipated in the light of improved reporting and investigating procedures. Offic~al reports on hand at the end of 1954 totaled 4834. Of these, 425 were produced in 1953 and 429 in 1954. These 1953 and 1954 individual reports ( a total of 85L~), were evaluated on the same basi s as were t hose received before the end of 1952. The results are as follows: Astronomical Insufficient Information As the study of the current cases progressed, it became in- creasingly obvious that if reporting and i nvestigating procedures could be further improved, t he percentages of those cases which con- tained insufficient information and those remaining unexplained ;rould be greatly reduced. The key to a higher percentage of solu- ions appeared to be in rapid non the spot" investigations by trained personnel. On the basis of this , a revised program was established by Air Force Regula t ion 200- 2 , Subject: 'unidentified Flying Objects Reporting" ( Short Title: UFOB), dated 12 August 1954. This new program, whic h had begun to s how marked results before January 1955, provided primarily t hat t he 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron (Air Defense Command) would carry out all field investigations. This squadron has suf f i c ient units a nd is so deploy- ed as to be alJle to arrive "on the spot'' within a very short time a fter a report is received. After treatment by the 4602d Air Inte l - ligence Service Squadron, all information i s supplied to the Air Technical Intelligence Center for final evaluation. This coopera- tive program has resulted, since 1 January 1955, in r educing the i n - sufficient information cases to seven percent and the unknown cases to three percent of the totals. The period 1 January 1955 to 5 May 1955 unidentified aerial object reports received. of these are as follows: accounted for 131 Evaluation percentages Astronomical ............. 23 per cent Insufficient Information ........ 7 per cent All available data were included in this study which was pre- pared by a panel of scientists both in and out of the Air Force . On the basis of this study it is believed that all the unidentified aerial objects could have been explained if more complete obser