Project Blue Book

From 1947 until 17 December 1969, the United States Air Force actively investigated reports and sightings of unidentified flying objects - UFOs, under a program called Project Blue Book. Project Blue Book investigated 12,618 UFO sightings and 701 of those sightings remained unidentified. Many UFO researchers feel that the investigations of the UFO sightings were unprofessional and unscientific.

The program used poor research methods and researchers were too eager to label a mysterious sighting as "identified" phenomena. Individual researchers and UFO organisations believe that members of Project Blue Book were pressured to "identify" UFO sightings to calm the public hysteria about UFOs. This theory has been supported by the recent release of CIA documents pertaining to UFOs. They also suggest that any report that was initially perceived as unexplainable or would cause public concern was never included in Project Blue Book. They allege that these reports were passed on to a higher authority that never reported the results to the public. Project Blue Book, it seems, was just a low level collection and disinformation program created under Project Sign (of December 1947) which evolved into Project Grudge (of December 1948) to cover up the true investigation into the alien presence on Earth." From "United States Air Force Project Blue Book",Above "Top Secret Websites":

http://www.nidsci.org/pdf/bluebookunknowns-v1-6.pdf
http://www.nicap.dabsol.co.uk/blue.htm
http://www.bluebookarchive.org/

The following news article appeared in the NY Times on December 18, 1969.


USAF Secretary Dr. Robert C. Seamans Jr. said: in a menorandum yesterday that Project Blue Book is closed since continuation of the study of UFO's "no longer can be justified either on the ground of National Sesurity or in the interest of Science."

Project Blue Book has investigated 12,618 sighting reports during the past 22 years, at a cost of "several million dollars." Both a committee of the National Academy Of Sciences and a U Of Colorado group concluded earlier this year that further studies of the so-called flying saucers would be a waste of time and money.

Surprisingly, the USAF decision was hailed by a number of UFO activists, but Dr. James McDonald, a meteorologist at the U Of Arizona, said: USAF was "writing off the UFO problem, which cries for serious scientific study ." Dr. Edward U. Condon, the U Of Colorado physicist who headed the UFO study, said: recently that his investigation "was a bunch of damned - nonsense" and that he was "sorry I ever got involed in such foolishness."

USAF said: UFO reports had fallen from a high of 1501 in 1952 to 146 this year. Stuart Nixon, secretary-treasurer of NICAP, said: sightings still occur almost weekly and cited the report from a group of Richmond, VA policemen who said: they saw an object maneuvering over the city at 5:45 on Dec 5.