new ufo sightings

Putting on the Brakes Early in 1953, the Air Force and CIA worked with Dr. H. P. Robertson—a Caltech physics professor who did classified consulting for the defense department—to convene the Scientific Advisory Panel on UFOs, a collection of scientists brought together to review existing UFO research, remark upon it, and recommend a future course … Read more

Good Grief, They’re Going After the White House As we’ve seen, Grudge issued just a single formal report. By way of contrast, between November 1951 and September 1953, Blue Book prepared and issued status reports at the end of every month (with a few exceptions). In addition, Blue Book staffers issued a “Special Report,” dated … Read more

Blue Book Project: Mandates and Activities A Grudge recommendation that was not shared with the public was that copies of the December 27, 1949, report be put on the reading list of U.S. military personnel studying psychological warfare. The intelligence community was apprehensive about Soviet exploitation of American fears of UFOs, and keen to devise … Read more

Wings, Lights, and a Black Eye at Lubbock During the transition from Grudge to Blue Book, the Air Force investigated an unidentified “flying wing” reported on the evening of August 25, 1951, above east Albuquerque and near Sandia Base, a part of Kirtland AFB. Kirtland was home to Special Weapons Command; the base and surrounding … Read more

Project Blue Book, or How UFOs Took over American Culture Government, the Military, and the CIA, Too It Started with a Sign The United States government and military were naturally disposed to be curious about such things as the Arnold sighting and the Roswell crash. The September 1947 Twining memorandum (discussed in chapter eight) noted … Read more

Selected UFO Sightings, 1947–49 June 14 or July 7, 1947 Ranch foreman Mac Brazel discovers unusual debris in a sheep field near Roswell, New Mexico. Military explanations given during the following week veer between “flying disc” and “weather balloon.” Note: One of the foundational incidents of UFO study, Roswell involves government obfuscation, sensational official documents … Read more

Festivals, Stalin, and the Children Amidst the souvenir shops and tourist museums in and around Roswell, city officials opened an official place of study, the International Museum and Research Center, in 1992. Four years later, vintage photographs of a deceased alien that were a highlight of the September 1996 issue of Penthouse magazine turned out … Read more

The Roswell Slide Debacle In 1998, a box containing four hundred Kodachrome slides was discovered by a cleaning woman in an Arizona home being prepared for an estate sale. The home had belonged to a deceased couple, a former petroleum geologist named Bernard Ray and his wife, Hilda Blair Ray. The cleaning woman (variously identified … Read more