Releases / 4 / CIA-UAP-D021

Analysis of Unconventional Aircraft Sightings, 1955

File

CIA-UAP-D021

Type

Document, 4 pages

Agency

CIA

Date

1955

Released

Release 4, July 10, 2026

Open the original on war.gov

The government's description

Sections 1 and 2 of this memorandum document a 1955 analysis of reports of “flying saucers” or “unconventional aircraft,” referencing the incident described in observer debriefings contained within CIA-UAP-D020. The memo summarizes the incident as consisting of two lights rising vertically, then passing above the observers. The memo contains caveating language that suggests the author concluded that the reports, as described, did not indicate the presence of an “unconventional aircraft.” Section 3 cites a previous finding by Dr. [Howard] Robertson (of the 1953 Robertson Panel) that “almost all the sightings […] represented no threat to the U.S.” Section 4 discusses the state of then-current research into “saucer-like aircraft” under Project “Y,” a contemporary joint U.S.-Canadian aerospace development program.

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