Project Blue Book: Unidentified, Unexplained, or Misunderstood?
UFOs (Unidentified Flying Object) — recently renamed UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) — are back in vogue. There have been several new sightings from the US military creating a lot of buzz — everyone from Joe Rogan to the skeptic community has gotten involved. This seems like the perfect time to look back at a classic in ufology: Project Blue Book.
Project Blue Book was the code name for a systematic study of UFOs by the United States Air Force (USAF), started in 1952 and continuing until the end of 1969. In that period, it received 12,618 reports of sightings, 701 of which remain “unidentified”. The outfit was headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force base in Ohio, and was a branch of the USAF Technical Intelligence Centre (ATIC).
Blue Book was started as a successor to several similar projects: Project Sign (started in 1947), and Project Grudge (started in 1948). Both projects were started to determine if the UFO phenomena represented a threat to US national security. Project Sign explained almost all reports as having natural or ordinary causes, but stated that some reports seemed to represent actual aircraft, though there was not enough evidence to draw a conclusion. It recommended the investigations be continued. Edward J. Ruppelt, the future director of Project Blue Book, would later claim that a report by Project Sign endorsed the extraterrestrial hypothesis. However, the document referred to by Ruppelt cannot be found, and he did not provide any other supporting evidence for his claim.
Project Sign was followed by Project Grudge. The project continued to collect and evaluate UFO reports, while also attempting to alleviate public anxiety over the UFO phenomenon through PR campaigns, explaining that “so-called” UFO sightings were nothing more than misinterpretations of common phenomena. It concluded by attributing most reports to natural phenomena or hoaxes, but considered a small selection of reports to be inconclusive. However, it denied there was any evidence of superhuman technology or advanced enemy aircraft. It recommended the project be reduced in scope since the very existence of USAF interest in the subject encouraged belief in UFOs. Grudge was shut down in late 1949. Because of mounting tension with the Soviets (and fear of advanced enemy tech or knowledge) and continued UFO reports, Project Blue Book was started in 1952, with Ruppelt serving as its first director.
The Beginning of Project Blue Book
Blue Book was set up as the center point for UFO-related reporting for the Air Force, with an officer assigned at every base to collect reports. Blue Book also had the authority to interview witnesses without having to follow the chain of command.
The code name “Blue Book” was taken from the blue booklets that were used for testing at some universities and was chosen because the people involved in the Blue Book project took their work as seriously as students at a university examination.
During the early phase of the project, Ruppelt helped set up the standard UFO sighting reporting method, both for civilians and within the military. He also created a standardized questionnaire for witnesses, hoping to discover new insights through statistical analysis. Ruppelt also set the precedent of not lending much credence to reports that involved contact with the occupants of a UFO (alien abductions, for example).
Blue Book contracted the Battelle Memorial Institute, a non-military think-tank, to perform statistical analysis on all the collected sighting reports. The study was completed in 1954, after Ruppelt had left Blue Book, and was known as Project Blue Book Special Report №14.
Ruppelt also performed an evaluation of Project Sign. Ruppelt concluded that a major cause of problems on that project was factionalism, and he wanted to avoid this for Blue Book. As a result, anyone who became too skeptical or too convinced of a theory was let go; the goal was for Blue Book to be a scientifically serious undertaking.
Dr. J. Hynek and Close Encounters
The astronomer Dr. J. Hynek was the main scientific consultant on Blue Book. He was a firm skeptic at the outset, and had converted to a “wavering skeptic” by the end, due to a small number of cases he couldn’t explain. Hynek created a categorization system for UFO reports that has become known as the Close Encounters classification system.
The Close Encounters classification ranks sightings according to the proximity of the witness to the UFO phenomena. Sightings over 150 meters (500 ft) away from the witness are classified as Nocturnal Lights, Daylight Discs, or Radar-Visual Reports. Sightings closer than 150 meters (500 ft) are split up into three different degrees of Close Encounters:
Hynek’s Scale
Ranked according to increasing proximity
Nocturnal Lights: Lights in the night sky.
Daylight Discs: UFO seen in the daytime, generally having discoidal or oval shapes.
Radar-Visual: Reports that have radar confirmation. This is “harder” evidence than personal sightings, though radar readings can be mistaken due to atmospheric anomalies.
Close Encounters of the First Kind: Visual sighting of UFO less than 150 meters (500 ft) away. It shows considerable detail and noticeable angular extension.
Close Encounters of the Second Kind: UFO that causes a non-subjective impression: interrupted function of a vehicle or electrical device, animal reaction, impressions in the ground, scorched earth, chemical traces, effects on the witness such as heat or paralysis.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Encounter where aliens seem to be present — humanoids, robots, or humans who seem to be the occupants of the UFO.
The early era of Project Blue Book ended in 1953. That year, Ruppelt was temporarily reassigned and when he returned a few months later, his staff had been cut down to only two people; it’s not clear why this change was made by USAF officials. Since Blue Book now could not continue its former work, Ruppelt suggested that investigation of sightings be assigned to the 4602nd Air Intelligence Service Squadron (AISS).
The Robertson Panel
Because of increasing public interest in the UFO phenomenon, as well as increasing concern about a potential security threat, the CIA set up a panel of scientists headed by Dr. H. P. Robertson to evaluate the UFO findings. Ruppelt, Hynek, and others presented the findings of Blue Book to the panel. Years’ worth of data was reviewed in 12 hours, and all Blue Book’s presented findings were dismissed. The panel concluded almost all the cases had conventional explanations and recommended that further research be discontinued.
The panel stressed the lack of sound proof throughout the reports, and the danger that low-quality UFO reports might fill up military intelligence channels, causing genuine threats to be overlooked. Despite this, it did consider UFOs to be of operational interest to the US for three reasons:
1. The reports might represent intentional interference with air defenses by an enemy. They also spoke to an occasional inability of equipment or personnel to discriminate between radar anomalies and enemy activity.
2. Interference with air defenses by enemies by overloading communication lines.
3. The possibility of a psychological offensive by an enemy, creating mass panic, timed with an actual attack.
The panel recommended the USAF start a public debunking & educational campaign to convince the public of the lack of evidence around the UFO phenomenon. Among other initiatives, it was suggested to use Disney, psychologists, astronomers, and celebrities to refute and ridicule the UFO phenomena. It also called for civilian UFO groups to be monitored, as they had the potential to influence public opinion. Put differently, the panel called for controlling public opinion through the use of propaganda, as well as spying on citizens.
Air Force Regulation 200–2 was issued as a consequence of the panel, which stated that Air Force officers could only discuss UFO reports if they were deemed to have been solved, meaning they’d been found to have a conventional explanation. They were also required to keep unsolved cases confidential. Blue Book were placed under the same restrictions and they were also ordered to significantly reduce the number of reports categorized as “unidentified”.
The 200–2 regulation gave UFOs a proper definition for the first time: Anything that relates to any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be identified as a familiar object.
In the wake of the panel, Blue Book continued to operate, but AISS took over the investigation of the most significant reports, removing them from Blue Book’s jurisdiction. Blue Book was effectively transformed into a public relations agency.
The full Robertson Panel report can be found here.
Blue Book After Ruppelt
After Captain Ruppel left, Blue Book had a series of directors:
- Captain Edward J. Ruppelt (1951–53)
- Captain Charles Hardin (1954–56)
- Captain George T. Gregory (1956–58)
- Lt. Col. Robert J. Friend (1958–63)
- Major Hector Quintanilla (1963–1969)
Captain Hardin
Captain Charles Hardin took over as director in March, 1954. He wasn’t much interested in the work of Blue Book and let 4602nd AISS continue to conduct the investigations.
The Air Force changed the mandate of Blue Book in 1955: its new focus was to minimize cases categorized as “unidentified”. There was a drop from 20% to 4% “unidentified” cases by the end of 1956.
Captain Gregory
In 1956, Hardin was relieved as director by Captain T. Gregory — a man even more strongly convinced UFOs were nothing but nonsense. Gregory continued the work of reducing “unidentified” cases, primarily by reclassifying “possible” and “probable” cases. Cases that “probably” had a conventional explanation were said to be “certain”, and cases marked “possible” were changed to “probable”.
Lt. Col. Friend
Lt. Col. Robert J. Friend was made director of Blue Book in 1958. Friend made sincere efforts to reverse the direction of Blue Book, and make it a respectable investigative outfit again; the efforts were unsuccessful because of lack of funding and assistance.
In 1960, U.S. Congressional hearings were held concerning UFOs. A civilian UFO research group, National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), had leveled accusations of cover-up at Blue Book, attracting media attention. As a result of the investigation launched by the hearing, Blue Book’s staffing and budget were increased.
With his retirement from Blue Book in 1963, Friend recommended the entire project be shut down as a waste of time despite the increased resources.
Major Quintanilla
Major Hector Quintanilla became Blue Book director in August, 1963, and continued the debunking mandate. Many of Blue Book’s “conventional” explanations for sightings were quite poor, causing criticism and suspicion to grow again. There were further accusations of cover-ups.
In response to increasing public criticism, Col. Raymond Sleeper of the Foreign Technology Division sent Hynek a letter, asking for advice on how to improve Blue Book.
Here is an excerpt from Hynek’s response to and criticism of Blue Book:
1. … neither of the two missions of Blue Book determining if UFOs are a threat to national security and using scientific data gathered by Blue Book are being adequately executed.
2. The staff of Blue Book, both in numbers and in scientific training, is grossly inadequate …
3. Blue Book suffers … in that it is a closed system … there is virtually no scientific dialogue between Blue Book and the outside scientific world …
4. The statistical methods employed by Blue Book are nothing less than a travesty.
5. There has been a lack of attention to significant UFO cases … and too much time spent on routine cases … and on peripheral public relations tasks. Concentration could be on two or three potentially scientific significant cases per month instead of being spread thin over 40 to 70 cases per month.
6. The information input to Blue Book is grossly inadequate. An impossible load is placed on Blue Book by the almost consistent failure of UFO officers at local air bases to transmit adequate information …
7. The basic attitude and approach within Blue Book is illogical and unscientific …
8. Inadequate use had been made of the Project scientific consultant (Hynek himself). Only cases that the _project monitor_ deems worthwhile are brought to his attention. His scope of operation … has been consistently thwarted … He often learns of interesting cases only a month or two after the receipt of the report at Blue Book.
There is no evidence that any of Hynek’s suggestions were acted on.
The Condon Committee and the End of Project Blue Book
Blue Book was under strong criticism throughout the 60s. NICAP’s membership increased to 15000 in the period, and they kept charging the government with cover-ups. Due to persistent public interest in UFOs and continuing criticism of the government’s handling of the phenomenon, a new committee was created.
The Condon Committee was created in 1966, intended as a neutral scientific body. However, the Committee was controversial, having charges of shoddy scientific work and bias directed at it. The Committee’s report stated there was nothing extraordinary about UFO sightings, even though a small number of cases could not be explained. The report also offered the opinion that further research was unlikely to yield anything of value.
The Secretary of the Air Force closed Blue Book on December 17, 1969, in response to the conclusions of the Condon Committee. The project records are stored in the Air Force Archives at Maxwell Air Force Base, in Alabama.
Project Blue Book’s final conclusions on the UFO phenomena stated that UFO sightings were the result of:
- A mild form of mass hysteria.
- Hoaxes.
- People with psychological or psychiatric problems.
- Misidentification of conventional objects or natural phenomena.
The Air Force gave the following summary of Blue Book’s work:
- “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;”
- “There was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as ‘unidentified’ were extraterrestrial vehicles.”
In total, Project Blue Book collected 12618 UFO reports. According to the study, most of the sightings could be explained by natural phenomena or conventional aircraft. 701 reports were still classified as “unexplained” when the analysis had finished.
Legacy
In the end, all the official investigations into UFOs arrived at similar conclusions, finding there to be no threat to national security and no evidence of advanced or extraterrestrial technology, despite a minority of the reports remaining unexplainable.
All the Blue Book files are now freely available, minus the personal information of the witnesses which has been redacted.
Arguably, the most significant legacy from Blue Book is a persistent mistrust of the government when it comes to the mysterious and unexplained. The controversy surrounding the project has played a part in persistent accusations of cover-ups and has spawned a wide variety of conspiracy theories.
