Archive case record

CIA-UAP-007, Current Status Of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) Project.

Date of account: 1953
Source: uap_archive
Record updated: 2026-10-10

Record summary

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 recording observable phenomena. A more redacted version of this memorandum has been available on CIA's public website.

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

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1 Appro ved f or Rel ease 20 26 17 December 1953 r,";g1,~0MNDUM TO, .Assistant Director, 3c:i.entif'ic Intelligence FROM : Chief , Physl cs and Electro n.ics Division; SI SUBJECT : Current Status of Unidentifi ed Flying Objects (UFOB) Project. l. In accord arii'.~e with the verbal reque st ol' Mr. Brent,. . Exec/SI, on 30 November, the following res ume of the current status or' unidenti fied flying objects activities has been prepared. 2. P&E Division assumed responsibi lity for the OSI project on unldentified f lying objects as a result oJ: ~,our memorandum of 27 Ma~ 1953. The project has been con:t'l~ed to rr:aintainiog awareness of the nctlvities of other agencies {not abl_y the USAF) in ·the unidenti fied f lying objects business and to !aa.intenance of files. 3. Sta.tus ot' Depa.rtrnent of Defense Activi ties. . . a. Air Force. The Air Force contin ues to ,1JS.1.Gtain, but with aJ)parently decreasing emphasis, .Lts interest in UFOB's. The present interest of th•~ Directorate of Inte l ligence, Hq. , USAF, is conf .).ned to a curso~ cop.,nlzance of ATIC's project (.iuebook No. 10073). At ATIC the pro ject is carri ed by one officer (Capt . Charles A. Hardin), one airman (A/lC Max G. Futch), and a secreta.lJ · operating as tlie .Aer i al . Phenomena. Sect i on of'. the Electronics Branch, Technic_al A:Qalysis Division. In s:pit e of thls 11.::nited staff, as weLle as several changes or proJect • officer, the project records appear to be up-to-date. ATIC personnel no longer cond uct f ield investigations of UFOB sightings (these are requested from USAF intelligence officers C9priroarily Air Defense Command and Airways and Air Communicat ions ServiciJ nearer to the a j ghtings), but confine their acti vl tiea .to receiving and checking reports as received; requesting a.ddi~ional f ield investigation where necessary, pe.rfcnning necessary check ine against meteorological, ast~omical, aircra f t, and b.alloon data, and record.lug their findings and honclusions in a cross-referenced system by date, location, source, tJ~e ·or observa .tioo and conclusion drawn. The Aerial Phenomena Section also deals directly ~1th the Public Information Office of Hq., USAF, re~ing 1nfo:rma.tion for public release. For about the past year, apprcxbiately ten percent of the reported s.i.gb.tln gs have been tagged us unsolved. •.. Of pa.:r.ticular interest is the fact that ATIC is i n the process oi' transterring pr9Ject Blueb ook ~6 Hq., Air Defense Command . AccordJng to Lt . Col. Harry Johnsto ~, C hief , Electron i cs Branch, the reason for the transl'er was that l\DC bad been doing most of the s .

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SECRET lnvestigative wcrk of the project and "if it turns out that these things (uFoB's) are space ships or long range aireraft fron another country, ADc is the(Air Force) Cocmand that woula have to take action."Col. Johnston followed thia coumentvith the somewhat contradictory statement tbatthe project transfer did not reflect any change in Air Force policy.Itsvndoubtedly true that ADc is the Air Force Command primarily concerned vith UFoB's at the prasent in n tha their interceptors are occasionally dispatched commmications sysens are involved in a considerable portion of the UFOB act vity.ArIC will maintain liaison with the proJect. Approximately a year and one half ago ATic initiateda progran to purchase cameras for seleoted ADc radar sites and AAcs controlowersin locations whereconsistentUFoB reportswere rece ved n the hopes of photographing UroB's.One lens of the orecordhe spectrographic nature of the UFoBphotographed.One sere prcbased along with 1o0 gratinga （15,000 line)from CENco, Chicago.3even y-four （74) cameras were disbributed. Ninety percent eqip them wi!h thenewgratings. Severalmonths agowewereadvised thatArICplannedto set np a concenrrated instrumentation observational elfort in the Albuquerq:e arey.This has nov been dropped. Proect SToRK（sECREr) has beenpreparing,at ATIC request a coupreiensive sais.ical reporon UroB sightings during the by 1.Decenber1953. ATTC ssues status reports on Project Bluebook on a tri-nonthly b.Navy. The Navyin spiie of press reports to the conrary,is presently devoting only part of one ONI analyat's time to mainta.in ng cogn:zance of uroB's. C. Army.The Army has ev dencad little or no iuterest in UFOB'sotherthan cooperatingwith tte Air Force in reporting sightings and pert'nent data using the Air Force format. 4.Investigations or Interests of Foreign Governments. a.Canada.Considerable attention in the U. 3.press was and Departmen: of Transport had jointly and ofricially establisheda -2~

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SCARET "laboratory"for recording observable phenomena connected with UFoB's. 1ch9. If Keyhoe s correct and it is the same Wilbur B. Smith wonder vhy the matter hit the press four years late. It is,of course quie possible tha the press item was prompted by the inforration in Keyhoe's book.Several reports have been received tha! experiments on a flying saicer are actually being conducted atA.V.Roe,Ltd.,Toronto. b.GreaBriiain.The subject of UFoB's was discussed brierly durng his recent visit.He stated thatsince investigationofUFoB'softwoand one balf years ago,initiated the only British activfty is the filingof reports as received by the RAF. c. Sweden. No further information is available. d.Other. Aside from a few scattered reports;mostly old, there is no information ofconcern or inquiries of consequence in other roreigm countries. 5.Results of OSI Panel Recommendations.The consultants who stripped oispecial status and aura of mystery and that policies on intelligence,training:.and public education pertinent to true ndicat.ons ohostile intent or action be prepared.The definite coi:ldbe attrib.ted to actions following theserecommendations.Two Saucers Have Landed"byLeslie and Adamiski) take full advantageof "official' UFOB reports released by the Air Force to develop a central theme that UFoB's are extraterrestrial in origin.Fortunstely,the later book s so nonsensical and obviously fraudulent that it may actrlly help calm down public reaction.These books do.however, ill strate the risk taken by the present policy.There are no other as ye apparen,reslts of these recorrendations. TODOS M.ODARENKO -3-

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