Access to data collected in the framework of the secret project of the American military "Blue Book" for the study of "flying saucers" is open
National security threat
The modern era of UFOs dates back to June 24, 1947, when businessman and pilot Kenneth Arnold saw nine strange objects in the sky. Soon, the military became eyewitnesses - on July 8, several "saucers" caused a stir, appearing over a secret airbase in California.
US Air Force Logistics Chief Lt. Gen. Nathan Twining wrote about this: “The phenomenon is something real, not an illusion or fiction … The objects are probably disc-shaped, and such apparent dimensions that they appear to be just as large, like human-made flying machines. The characteristics described make it plausible that some objects are controlled manually, automatically or remotely."
On December 30, 1947, Twining began to create a project to study "all information about observations and phenomena in the atmosphere that can be considered a threat to national security." As a result, the project was codenamed "Blue Book". It was a clear hint that UFOs can become a severe test - American students call special notebooks for answering examinations "blue books".
Registration card for a visit to an object that was never identified. These are available for all observations collected within the Blue Book project
US Air Force Captain Edward Ruppelt, who directed the project from 1951 to 1953, recalled: "The UFO situation was considered serious … The authorities wanted answers, and quickly."
Kenneth Arnold's observation entered the Blue Book archive as number 17. The dossier dedicated to him is 61 pages long. Frank Brown of the 4th Air Force Army said this about an eyewitness:
Promotional video:
"Arnold really saw what he was talking about …"
First photo
On July 7, 1947, amateur photographer William Rhodes of Phoenix, Arizona, heard a strange hum - as if a fighter was flying low. But instead of him, a flat object in the form of an irregular circle moved across the sky, from the center of which a ray of light escaped. When the object was 700 meters away, Rhodes, who had time to grab the camera, pulled the trigger for the first time. At that moment, the UFO tilted and began to move away. The photographer managed to take another shot before the subject silently picked up speed and disappeared behind dense clouds.
William took the pictures to the local newspaper, The Arizona Republic. Soon they were published, however, upside down. When Kenneth Arnold got acquainted with them, he confidently declared that he saw the same objects!
On the second day after the article appeared, an Air Force lieutenant colonel, accompanied by an FBI agent, came to the photographer.
“They took the negatives and said they would return them soon,” said William. “A few years later I called the FBI and they said they knew nothing.
In fact, experts examined the images and concluded: "… a disc-like object is visible, rounded in front and with a rectangular tail … the images are genuine and do not look like the result of emulsion defect or lens imperfections."
Ordered to lie
In 1948, project staff came to the conclusion that UFOs are alien ships. Prepared a corresponding report entitled "Assessment of the situation". But he was categorically disliked by the high authorities, who refused to believe in aliens. Almost all of the former employees were dispersed, and the new ones were instructed not to provoke panic and to identify UFOs. As a result, by 1956, the number of objects officially recognized by the Blue Book as unidentified fell to 0.4 percent per year. The military went to blatant lies to "explain" the mysterious incidents.
UFO, captured by William Rhodes. Ufology began with him. Photo: provided by Mikhail Gershtein
In the early morning of September 24, 1959, Police Officer Robert Dickerson, while driving a patrol car around the city of Redmond, saw a large luminous disk hovering over the trees. A few minutes later, Dickerson headed for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) building near Redmond Airport. At this time, the object quickly moved to the side and hovered again. Its color changed from white to reddish orange.
At 5.10 a.m., FAA personnel reported the UFO sighting to the Seattle Air Traffic Control Center, from where the information was relayed to the military. At 5.18, six fighters took off to intercept. When the planes roared over Redmond, people were still watching the object. As the planes approached, the UFO, emitting a "fiery jet", rushed upward with incredible speed. He raced so close to the planes that one of the pilots was forced to turn aside. The pursuit did not work out - the UFO quickly moved away from it, but for two whole hours remained on the radar screens of the airport, aircraft and air defense base, moving at high speed and sharply maneuvering.
The official conclusion of the Blue Book on this occasion read: "Perhaps reflections from Venus and the star Regulus, which were just below the horizon during the observation."
The project was finally closed on December 17, 1969. Naturally, the study of UFOs went on as usual, but the Air Force could officially claim that they no longer deal with this topic.
One third mysterious
According to official data, the "Blue Book" has studied 12,618 UFO sightings in 22 years, of which 701 - this is 5.5 percent - remained unidentified. They could very well be evidence of alien visits. However, according to atmospheric physicist James MacDonald, the real share of the absolutely mysterious is 30-40 percent.
The project does not contain sensational evidence. The main merit of its participants is that they recorded the cases in detail. The collected data can be used to compare with what people are seeing now. You can generalize and ask new questions that have not previously occurred to ufologists.