nenty 10 stmiecr 10 Doc. 24a USAF. Letter with Ends, Aug 17, 1978 DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE HEADQUARTERS AEROSPACE DEFENSE COMMAND PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, COLORADO 80914 DAD Preedom of Information Request SP5 Clifford E. Stone HQ Det, Hanau Mil Comm APO New York 09165 1. Your letter of 23 July 1978 has been forwarded to this headquarters for a reply. After reviewing your letter and considering the type of information you are requesting, I presume you are referring to the article recently published in the 27 June 1978 edition of the National Enquirer pertinent to UFOs. I believe the following documents are applicable to your request. a. CIRVIS Reporting Instructions I am not at liberty to release this document, therefore your request is being forwarded to the Director of Freedom of Information and Security Review, Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense, Washington DC 20301 for a decision on its release. b. UFO Checklist. The National Enquirer pictured a copy of a letter from the 2lst Air division forwarding a UFO check- list to a requester. Actually, the letter was from the 26th Air Division, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. The use of the term "UFO" on the checklist was inappropriate. The person who drew up that unofficial checklist should have used the expression “unknown aircraft." Therefore, to avoid any mis- conception that the Air Force still investigates and main- tains files on UFO reports, the UFO checklist no longer exists. The enclosed UFO Fact Sheet (Atch 1) should help you understand why such investigations have been discontinued by the Air Force. : c. In response to paragraph 3 of your letter, the attached extracts are releasable (Atch #2). The name, address and telephone number of persons reporting the inci- dents have been deleted because this information is exempt from mandatory disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552b(6). Such disclosure is considered an unwarranted invasion of privacy. 2, The decision to withhold release of this information may be appealed in writing to the Secretary of the Air Force within 45 days from the date of this letter. If you appeal, include any reason for reconsideration you wish to present, and attach a copy of this letter. Address your letter as follows: Secretary of the Air Force, thru HQ ADCOM/DAD, Peterson AFB, CO 80914. Hamer C TERRENCE C. JAMES, Colonel, USAF 2 Atch Director of Administration 1. UFO Fact Sheet 2. Log entry extracts pt et et tated tealDoc. 2b USAF. Letter with Ends., Aug 17, 1978 UFO FACT SHEET The Air Force investigation of UFO's began in 1948 and was known as Project Sign. Later the name was changed to Project Grudge, and in 1953, it became Project Blue Book. Between 1948 and 1969 we investi- gated 12,618 reported sightings. The following is a statistical listing of reported UFO sightings during the Air Force investigation: TOTAL UFO SIGHTINGS, 1947 - 1969 YEAR TOTAL SIGHTINGS UNIDENTIFIED 1947 1ee 12 198 156 7 19ug 186 22 1950 210 27 1951 169 22 3 1952 1,501 303 1953 509 42 1954 487 46 1955 55 2u 1956 670 14 1957 1,006 1m 1958 627 10 1959 390 12 1960 557 14 1961 591 13 1962 ary 5 1963 399 1 1964 562 19 1965 887 16 1966 1,112 32 1967 937 19 1968 375 3 1969 146 1 TOTAL 12,618 701 Of these total sightings, 11,917 were found to have been caused ty material objects (such as balloons, satellites, and aircraft), immaterial objects (such as lightning, reflections and other natural phenomena), astronomical objects (such as stars, planets, the sun and the moon), weather conditions and hoaxes. As indicated only 701 reported sightings remain unexplained, :Doc. 21¢ USAF. Letter with Endls., Aug 11 1978 On December 17, 1969 the Secretary of the Air Force announced the termination of Project Blue Book. The decision to discontinue UFO investigations was based on an evaluation of a report prepared by the University of Colorado entitled, "Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects;" a review of the Univer- sity of Colorado's report by the National Academy of Sciences; past UFO studies; and Air Force experience investigating UFO reports for two decades. As a result of these investigations and studies, and experience gained from investigating UFO reports since 1948, the conclusions of Project Blue Book were: (1) no UFO reported, investigated, and evalu- ated by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our mattonal security; (2) there has been no evidence submitted to or dis- covered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as "unidentified" represent technological developments or principles beyond the range of present day scientific knowledge; and (3) there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as "unidentified" are extratet- restrial vehicles. With the termination of Project Blue Book, the Air Force regulation establishing and controlling the program for investigating and analyzing UFOs was rescinded. All documentation regarding the former Blue Book investigation was permanently transferred to the Modern Military Branch, National Archives and Records Service, 8th and Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20408, and is available for public review and analysis. In 1977, President Carter asked the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to look into the possibility of resuming UFO investi- gations, After studying all the facts available, they decided that nothing would be gained by further investigation. The Air Force agrees with that decision. If, however, firm evidence is found justifying further investigation, an appropriate agency will be directed to under- take the effort. There are a number of universities and professional scientific organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which have considered UFO phenomena during periodic meetings 4nd seminars. In addition, a list of private organizations interested in aerial phenomena may be found in Gale's. Encyclopedia of Associations (Edition 8, Vol I, pp. 432-3), Such timely review of the situation by private groups insures that sound evidence will not be overlooked by the sctentific community. For further reference material, two documents are available from. the National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22151: . Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects. Study conducted by the University of Colorado under contract F"N620-76-C-0035. Three volumes, 1,465 p. 68 plates. Photoduplicated hard copies of the official report may be ordered for $6 per volume, $18 the set of three, as AD 680:975, AD 680:976, and AD 680:977. Review of University of Colorado Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. Review of report by a panel of the National Academy of Sciences. National Academy of Sciences, 1969, 6p. Photoduplicated hard copies may be ordered for $3 as AD 688:5!11,