Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies
of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) conducted by the United States Air Force.
Started in 1952, it was the second revival of such a study (the first two of
its kind being Projects Sign and Grudge). A termination order was given for the
study in December 1969, and all activity under its auspices ceased in January
1970.
Project Blue Book had two goals:
To determine if UFOs were a threat to national security, and to
scientifically analyze UFO-related data.
Thousands of UFO reports were collected, analyzed and filed.
As the result of the Condon Report (1968), which concluded there was nothing
anomalous about UFOs, Project Blue Book was ordered shut down in December 1969
and the Air Force continues to provide the following summary of its
investigations:
No UFO reported, investigated and evaluated by the Air Force
was ever an indication of threat to our national security;
There was no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air Force
that sightings categorized as "unidentified" represented
technological developments or principles beyond the range of modern scientific
knowledge; and There was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as
"unidentified" were extraterrestrial vehicles.
By the time Project Blue Book ended, it had collected 12,618
UFO reports, and concluded that most of them were misidentifications of natural
phenomena or conventional aircraft. According to the National Reconnaissance
Office a number of the reports could be explained by flights of the formerly
secret reconnaissance planes U-2 and A-12. A small percentage of UFO reports
were classified as unexplained, even after stringent analysis. The UFO reports
were archived and are available under the Freedom of Information Act, but names
and other personal information of all witnesses have been changed.
