1950s: declassified UAP incidents — timeline.
30 UAP cases
The 1950s account for 30 UAP cases in this archive — 1 video, 28 documents, and 1 audio recording — released by CIA, Department of State, Department of War, and 1 more agency under the PURSUE program. Reported locations from the decade include Various, Tremonton, Utah, and Budapest, Hungary, among others; some incidents carry no usable location and are excluded from the map. Every year below links to the cases reported in it, and years with enough declassified material get their own dedicated timeline page, linked from the heading. Use the interactive map to see where these incidents cluster, or the knowledge graph to follow a witness, mission or aircraft type across the rest of the archive.
1958 — 2 UAP cases
CIA-UAP-004, CASE 17708 (CLOSED) and DR. Leon Davidson
This is a single-page CIA internal memorandum, dated 9 January 1958, from the Chief, Support Branch, Contact Division to the Chief, Chicago Office, titled 'Case 17708 (Closed) and Dr. Leon Davidson' (reference CII-58-17). It documents a tel
65_HS1-101634279_100-DE-18221_Serial_844
A single-page FBI Office Memorandum dated 17 April 1958, from SA Robert Ross Reynolds to SAC, Detroit (file 100-DE-18221, serial 844). It records that a caller, Weaver, of Detroit, Michigan, telephoned the FBI office at 4:08 that day report
1957 — 3 UAP cases
DOW-UAP-D104, Final Personnel Record for Newhouse, Delbert C., U.S. Navy, 1957
This is the official U.S. Navy personnel/service record of Delbert Clement Newhouse (service number 177283), the Chief Petty Officer and Navy photographer who filmed the July 1952 Tremonton, Utah UFO footage. It is a purely administrative f
CIA-UAP-009, Unknown Flying Objects Observed Over Budapest
This CIA document, titled 'Unknown Flying Objects Observed Over Budapest,' is a 1-page scanned record that contains no usable OCR text layer -- pdf.js extracted only a handful of stray, non-semantic characters from what appears to be a scan
65_HS1-101634279_100-DE-26505
A 15-page FBI file (Detroit field office, file 100-26505, "Flying Objects; IS-X," late 1957-1966) documenting an interview with Wladyslaw (aka Walter) Krasuski, a Polish immigrant in Detroit. Krasuski had written to Robert Cutler, Special A
1956 — 1 UAP case
CIA-UAP-013, Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity
CIA-UAP-013 is a declassified CIA Information Report (Report No. DO-B-93674) titled "Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity," dated around March 1955, with information covering November-March 1955. The s
1955 — 7 UAP cases
CIA-UAP-D020, Memorandum on Unconventional Aircraft Sightings, 1955
A 3-page Top Secret CIA memorandum dated 31 October 1955, signed by H.P. Scoville, Jr., Scientific Advisor of the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI). Per the official description, it summarizes a CIA debriefing of four individuals — in
CIA-UAP-D021, Analysis of Unconventional Aircraft Sightings, 1955
This 4-page Top Secret CIA document, dated late October/November 1955 and signed by H.P. Scoville, Jr. (Scientific Advisor, Office of Scientific Intelligence), analyzes a dispatch from a CIA station in Manila (dated 13 October 1955) reporti
DOW-UAP-D095, Joint U.S.-Canadian Aviation Projects and UFO Sighting Reports, 1954-1955
This file contains reports, memoranda, and correspondence concerning various then-developmental vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The file includes assessments of the experimental potential of the “Avro Project Y2,” a joint U.S
DOW-UAP-D096, Correspondence Relating to Project Blue Book, 1955
This file contains correspondence relating to Project Blue Book, a 1952-1969 U.S. Air Force program to investigate the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects (UFO). The correspondence includes letters and memoranda sent between va
CIA-UAP-006, Sighting Of Unconventional Aircraft
This 2-page CIA Information Report (Report No. 00-B-302290) documents a 4 October 1955 sighting near Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR, reported by a 41-year-old American tourist (a publicity/advertising vice president of a large U.S. corporation,
CIA-UAP-018, Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity
CIA-UAP-018 is a declassified CIA Information Report, Report No. DO-B-93674, titled "Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity," dated 17 April [1955?]. It is a fuller, 3-page version of the same case docum
341_110677_Numerical_File,_5-2500
This is a declassified Air Intelligence Information Report dated 14 October 1955 (Numerical File 5-2500), released by the Department of War in the first PURSUE tranche. It records an eyewitness account of the ascent and flight of an unconve
1954 — 1 UAP case
CIA-UAP-003, The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974
This document is the CIA History Staff's declassified 1992 official history 'The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974' by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach, a 406-page book
1953 — 2 UAP cases
CIA-UAP-007, Current Status Of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) Project.
This December 1953 memorandum provides a status update on the Air Force's UFO project activities, including ongoing intelligence operations, equipment procurement for photographing UFOs, and Canada’s establishment of a "laboratory" for reco
DOW-UAP-D085_Transmission-of-CIA-Scientific-Advisory-Panel-Rept_1953
This file contains a copy of the CIA's 1953 "Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects" that was sent to the Secretary of Defense.
1952 — 11 UAP casesView the full 1952 page →
DOW-UAP-D102, Project Blue Book File on Tremonton Film, Utah, 1952
This Project Blue Book case file documents the U.S. Air Force and Navy investigation of the 16mm color motion picture footage that Navy Chief Petty Officer Delbert C. Newhouse shot on 2 July 1952, seven miles north of Tremonton, Utah, showi
DOW-UAP-D103, Project Blue Book Photo File Relating to Tremonton Film, Utah, 1952
During its investigation of a July 1952 film of an incident reported near Tremonton, Utah, Project Blue Book examined whether the objects recorded on film might have been “pillow balloons.” Project Blue Book was a U.S. Air Force program act
DOW-UAP-D105, U.S. Air Force Flying Discs File, 1952
This is a general Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) and Air Force Directorate of Intelligence (AFOIN-2A2) correspondence file from the intense 1952 flying-saucer reporting wave, compiled under Project Blue Book and signed variously b
DOW-UAP-D154, Transcript of a Presentation by Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, 1952
This is a verbatim transcript of a March 1952 briefing given by Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, newly appointed project engineer of the U.S. Air Force's reorganized UFO investigation (soon to be named Project Blue Book). Ruppelt traces the project
▶ 70sDOW-UAP-PR159, Historical Film of Reported UFOs, Utah, 1952
Archival 16mm color film with a heavy blue color cast, visible film grain, vertical scratches, and a soft focus consistent with handheld footage. Most frames show a plain sky with no visible object; several frames contain a cluster of small
DOW-UAP-PR160, Presentation by Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, 1952
This is an audio recording of a March 1952 briefing given by Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, newly appointed project engineer of the U.S. Air Force's reorganized UFO investigation (soon to be named Project Blue Book). The recording opens with equi
CIA-UAP-002, Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, Report, 1952-1953
This file contains correspondence and reports dated 1952–1953 from the Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, convened by the CIA’s Office of Scientific Intelligence. The panel’s primary conclusion was that “flying saucer
CIA-UAP-014, British activity in the Field of "Unidentified Flying Objects"
CIA-UAP-014 is a declassified SECRET Security Information memorandum for record dated 18 December 1952, titled "British Activity in the field of 'Unidentified Flying Objects,'" signed by H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director for Scientif
FBI-UAP-D012, Newark Field Office, 1952-1967
This file details a special inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Newark Field Office of various reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in and near New Jersey between August 1952 and January 1967. These files in
FBI-UAP-D013, Washington State ‘UFO’ Investigation, 1952-1960
This file details an investigation of various sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) in Washington state between July 1952 and August 1960. This file includes memoranda and correspondence between the Federal Bureau of Investigation
59_64634_711.5612[7-2852
A short 2-page declassified memorandum dated 28 July 1952 (NND 852931). Page 1 is a cover note from an unnamed Air Force staffer to "Mr. Armstrong," relaying that Paul Nitze had asked what the Air Force thought about flying saucers, and for
1950 — 3 UAP cases
DOW-UAP-D098, Film Analysis of Unidentified Objects, 1953
A 23-page "Confidential — Security Information" report, later declassified (stamped "DECLASSIFIED MVD 67905"), of which 20 pages are legible; the rest are charts, graphs, and photographic plots that resisted OCR, including three blank or to
CIA-UAP-005, German Scientist's Article on 'Flying Discs'
This 1950 CIA Information Report from Chile discusses a German scientist's article theorizing that "Flying Discs" could be explained as a new type of aircraft based on aerodynamic principles developed in German research facilities during an
342_HS1-416511228_319.1 Flying Discs 1949
A 1949 U.S. Air Force compilation of "Flying Discs" incident reports and Air Intelligence Information Reports (AF Form 112) originating from multiple Military Air Transport Service (MATS) Flight Service Centers — Lowry (Denver), Olmsted (Mi