DOW-UAP-D084, Army Plans & Operations File: "Evaluation Study of Phenomenon" (Flying Saucers), 1949
- Date
- 1949 (memo for record dated Feb. 24, 1949; other routing dates in 1949)
- Location
- Washington, D.C. (Department of the Army General Staff, Plans & Operations Division); study refers to AMC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
- Agency
- Department of War
- Release
- Release 03 (June 12, 2026)
- Type
- document
Summary
A 25-page Army General Staff (Plans & Operations Division) file opens with a Feb. 24, 1949, memo for record saying P&O "has not received any evaluation of the flying saucer type of phenomenon" and, since "a possibility exists that this phenomenon may have foreign implication," proposing that the Intelligence Division (ID) make a study. The resulting "Evaluation Study of Phenomenon" says that "Of some 210 incidents, approximately twenty (20) per cent have been explained," mostly as weather balloons, with only two found to be hoaxes, and that "There are no highly secret experimental Projects of the U.S. Government that could be responsible." It adds that ID "feels that if complete data were available the remaining 80% ... could be eliminated" as natural or balloon sightings, with report numbers driven largely by publicity; later items include a March 22, 1949, memo for record, a P&O request that ID verify an April 3, 1949, Walter Winchell broadcast claiming the saucers were guided missiles "shot all the way from Russia," ID's April 15, 1949, reply that it was unable to verify the claim, a Public Information Division bulletin, and routing forms.
Note
The start year of the period studied ("June 194?") is not clearly legible in the released scan.