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UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENA BRIEFING
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NOTE |
This May 19, 1950, briefing document prepared for G-3, presumably the operations, planning, and training division of the United States Army is particularly insightful in its evaluation of the origins of the UFO phenomenon, its connection to ancient sightings of aerial phenomena, and the lack of evidence supporting the current UFO mania. The exact reason for this document and why it was sent to the FBI three days later is unclear, but it appears to serve to explain to senior Army leaders that the then-current panic over flying saucers and the rampant media speculation that they represent and operational threat from the Soviet Union were unfounded. In the transcript made below from a copy posted by the Department of Defense in May 2026, italicized words represent handwritten notes added to the typewritten document.
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G-3 Briefing
Mr. Stites 19 May ’50 |
Rec’d from G-3
5-22-50 C W [illegible]
5-22-50 C W [illegible]
CONFIDENTIAL
UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENA
(Flying Saucers)
UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENA
(Flying Saucers)
Reports of strange and mysterious objects seen in the sky over most of the countries of the world during the past five years have created quite a stir in the public press. The sighting of such objects has not been confined to the last five years. History records many instances of man’s inability to explain what he saw or thought he saw. The prophet Ezekiel in the 6th century BC reported “a whirl wind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire unfolding itself, and a brightness was about it.” He then saw “a wheel in the middle of a wheel” and reported “when they went, they went up on their four sides and they turned not when they went.” (Ezekiel 1:16)
In the past, these phenomena have usually been attributed to supernatural causes, and in more recent years to natural phenomena. However, the introduction of the atomic bomb and guided missiles in World War II has so caught the public imagination with their potentialities, actual and fanciful, that we now find the phenomena variously attributed to space ships from other planets and U.S. or Soviet experiments with new and wonderful weapons.
The present flurry of flying saucers, ghost rockets, etc., began in mid 1946 in Sweden. Hundreds of people reported seeing strange objects flying over the country. Newspapers speculated that they were Soviet guided missiles being tested over the Baltic Sea, either from the former German experimental station at Peenemünde, or from Dago Island off the Estonian Coast. The fact that an experimental V 2 fired by the Germans from Peenemünde had landed in Sweden in 1944 lent credence to their speculation. The Swedish defense staff made an investigation and may have deliberately allowed the public to believe this theory for some time for political reasons. Careful investigation by the U.S. Air and by an independent British team failed to uncover any evidence to support the theory of Soviet missiles. By 1947 the thing had snowballed to such an extent that the Swedish Government finally issued a report identifying most of the incidents with natural phenomena and denying that any foreign power was involved. During this period sightings were reported from the remaining Scandinavian countries and most of Western Europe.
Incidents were first reported over the U.S. in 1947 and are still continuing. Much space in the press has been given to these reports and various semi official opinions have been quoted. For example, on 16 May, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was quoted as saying “There must be something to them, for too many reliable persons have made reports on them. I am duty bound not to say what I know about them – or what I don’t know about them. However, if they do exist, you can rest assured that they are ours.” The USAF for a long time conducted a thorough investigation of each of the hundreds of incidents involved. It found that approximately 75 of the reports could definitely be related to known causes such as meteorological balloons, aircraft, meteors, and other common phenomena. A public statement was issued debunking the entire existence of flying disks or saucers. This did little to cut down the flood of reports. It only resulted in convincing a large number of people that the National Military Establishment was trying to cover up our own experiments with new weapons.
Many theories have been advanced to explain these reports of aerial phenomena over the U.S. These include:
There is absolutely no evidence that the Soviet Union possesses either guided missiles or disc shaped aircraft capable of making round trip flights to the U.S., and the use of atomic energy for the propulsion of any aerial vehicle is still at least several years in the future. Even if the Soviets are that far ahead of us in such a program, there is no reason to expect the airplanes would be other than of conventional design. An atomic power plant alone would be sufficiently radical, without also designing a completely new vehicle to carry it.
The U.S. is not experimenting with any new weapon that could reasonably be mistaken or identified as a flying disc or saucer. The U.S. is launching large numbers of meteorological and cosmic ray balloons for experimental purposes, and a fair number of the reports can be definitely attributed to sightings of these objects or reflections of other shiny objects such as aircraft.
The continued reporting of aerial phenomena must then be attributed to a mass hysteria caused by the present tenseness in the international situation; the public belief in the ability of science to accomplish miracles; and to statements in the press by “name” individuals hinting at the existence of some new weapon. Such statements, of the type attributed to Rickenbacker, often solicited in the most sensational form by news reporters in order to make a good story, make people watch the sky, and any object they cannot immediately recognize is called a “flying saucer.” This helps to maintain the “chain reaction” of such reports.
In the past, these phenomena have usually been attributed to supernatural causes, and in more recent years to natural phenomena. However, the introduction of the atomic bomb and guided missiles in World War II has so caught the public imagination with their potentialities, actual and fanciful, that we now find the phenomena variously attributed to space ships from other planets and U.S. or Soviet experiments with new and wonderful weapons.
The present flurry of flying saucers, ghost rockets, etc., began in mid 1946 in Sweden. Hundreds of people reported seeing strange objects flying over the country. Newspapers speculated that they were Soviet guided missiles being tested over the Baltic Sea, either from the former German experimental station at Peenemünde, or from Dago Island off the Estonian Coast. The fact that an experimental V 2 fired by the Germans from Peenemünde had landed in Sweden in 1944 lent credence to their speculation. The Swedish defense staff made an investigation and may have deliberately allowed the public to believe this theory for some time for political reasons. Careful investigation by the U.S. Air and by an independent British team failed to uncover any evidence to support the theory of Soviet missiles. By 1947 the thing had snowballed to such an extent that the Swedish Government finally issued a report identifying most of the incidents with natural phenomena and denying that any foreign power was involved. During this period sightings were reported from the remaining Scandinavian countries and most of Western Europe.
Incidents were first reported over the U.S. in 1947 and are still continuing. Much space in the press has been given to these reports and various semi official opinions have been quoted. For example, on 16 May, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was quoted as saying “There must be something to them, for too many reliable persons have made reports on them. I am duty bound not to say what I know about them – or what I don’t know about them. However, if they do exist, you can rest assured that they are ours.” The USAF for a long time conducted a thorough investigation of each of the hundreds of incidents involved. It found that approximately 75 of the reports could definitely be related to known causes such as meteorological balloons, aircraft, meteors, and other common phenomena. A public statement was issued debunking the entire existence of flying disks or saucers. This did little to cut down the flood of reports. It only resulted in convincing a large number of people that the National Military Establishment was trying to cover up our own experiments with new weapons.
Many theories have been advanced to explain these reports of aerial phenomena over the U.S. These include:
- Space ships from other planets
- Soviet guided missiles or aircraft, probably atomic powered
- U.S. experiments with new weapons
- Natural phenomena
- Mass hysteria, or other psychological causes
There is absolutely no evidence that the Soviet Union possesses either guided missiles or disc shaped aircraft capable of making round trip flights to the U.S., and the use of atomic energy for the propulsion of any aerial vehicle is still at least several years in the future. Even if the Soviets are that far ahead of us in such a program, there is no reason to expect the airplanes would be other than of conventional design. An atomic power plant alone would be sufficiently radical, without also designing a completely new vehicle to carry it.
The U.S. is not experimenting with any new weapon that could reasonably be mistaken or identified as a flying disc or saucer. The U.S. is launching large numbers of meteorological and cosmic ray balloons for experimental purposes, and a fair number of the reports can be definitely attributed to sightings of these objects or reflections of other shiny objects such as aircraft.
The continued reporting of aerial phenomena must then be attributed to a mass hysteria caused by the present tenseness in the international situation; the public belief in the ability of science to accomplish miracles; and to statements in the press by “name” individuals hinting at the existence of some new weapon. Such statements, of the type attributed to Rickenbacker, often solicited in the most sensational form by news reporters in order to make a good story, make people watch the sky, and any object they cannot immediately recognize is called a “flying saucer.” This helps to maintain the “chain reaction” of such reports.
